


Shadows of Serendom

by Malfiora (Chanonvic)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, No musical numbers though, Wizard of Oz References, light shipping, loosely based
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2020-09-27 08:48:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 44,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20404963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chanonvic/pseuds/Malfiora
Summary: In the midst of a fever, Serenity wakes up in a foreign world with a sick king and an approaching, unnamed evil. It's a race against time for her and her companions, each with their own stake in the quest, as they traverse the lands in search of the Sorcerers - the only ones capable of stopping the threat. (Based loosely on "The Wizard of Oz.")





	1. Part I. Not in Domino Anymore, Chapter 1

"What pretty lights," Serenity said to herself, or so she thought, "though the siren is dreadful." On cue, a wide throb rolled through her skull, making her stomach quiver. She eased away from her bedside window and lay back down — ever-so-slowly at the behest of her gut — and stared at the blurry ceiling. "It wasn't always that mosaic, you know," she said to no one in particular. Or perhaps to the white ceiling. Who could tell?

She heard her door open yards away from her bed but made no attempt to greet her visitor. 'They'll forgive my rudeness, surely,' she thought.

A man stood at the foot of her bed, though she couldn't say how she knew he was male.

'Maybe they've come to take me away,' she thought, and frantic delight seeped through her head, followed on its heels by more pain. 'Maybe they can fix me!'

And suddenly she was lighter than she was a moment ago and dangerously high off her bed. And suddenly she was heavy again and pressed firmly into a mattress. The instantaneous change and jolt of being put on a gurney rippled through her. With reflexes she doubted she'd had before this whole ordeal, Serenity leaned over the side of the stretcher and heaved up the only two meals she'd had in the past three days.

She wondered why she should bother with righting herself when gravity beckoned her to the floor. Unfortunately, two pairs of impatient hands caught her first. Black dots peppered her vision until black was all she saw, and Serenity was out cold.

* * *

Although _cold_ wasn't the proper term, now was it?

"103," the nurse said in what she probably assumed was a whisper. Her grave tone compensated for what the number alone lacked.

Serenity ignored her. Instead, she marveled at the return of her sense of hearing before all other senses. She waited patiently for the others to awake. 'I, for one, will be glad to rid myself of this whole darkness business.'_'_But none of them came. Hearing was her only friend, and as the earnest voices of her worried mother and nurse faded into mumbles, she realized it, too, was fickle.

* * *

The hand on her burning forehead felt remarkably cool, and again Serenity wondered at the presence of one sense in the absence of the others. She could not hear the hand's owner, nor would her eyes open to see his or her face. So she willed her Psyche to lean into the touch — for she couldn't do so physically, ensnared in viral tendrils and all — and to spread the coolness to the rest of her body.

But too soon, the hand was being retracted. Feverish warmth swelled tenfold where the delicate fingers had been, as though waiting for the dam to break. Serenity panicked. She could not get any warmer than she already was or she'd melt; Grace had told her that herself!

Again, Serenity awaited the arousal of her other senses. Quickly growing impatient, she decided to awaken them herself. She attempted to clear her throat, but the sound was all wrong, all gurgled and barbaric. She tried again and decided it was close enough. She parted chapped lips and wheezed. Licking her lips, she tried again, this time emitting a low moan.

'Nearly there!' Serenity told herself. 'Keep at it, you'll be fine.'

And she did. Upon the third time, she said her first word: "Hot."

"Speak up," replied a muffled voice.

"I'm hot," Serenity gasped.

"Hot?" Serenity nodded weakly. "And no wonder!" The voice chuckled a little.

The owner of the voice shifted his weight — Serenity could now feel that he was quite close to her. As he moved, light filtered through her eyelids, quickly warming them and turning them orange.

Serenity squinted before attempting to open her eyes. She peeked under lashes and saw endless blue. 'Well,' she thought, 'it's an improvement from the black.' She lifted her lids higher and revealed to herself an expanse of cloudless sky. The sun was above her head, pouring warm light on her without blinding her.

"Miss?" the voice called from beside her.

Slowly, Serenity looked to her left and saw a young man with sharp brown hair and concern sketched on his face kneeling beside her.

Serenity mentally searched for her hands and found them loosely curled in grass. Come to think of it, grass was pricking her back and bare legs, too. She lifted her arms up in a gesture to beckon for help sitting up.

The young man obliged and tugged her left arm firmly but gently to pull her up.

"Easy now," he said.

Serenity put her right hand behind her to steady herself and waited for the impending dizzy and nausea spell to wash over her.

But it never came.

Her eyes widened, and she searched for any and all traces of the urge to purge but nearly laughed when she felt none. Similarly, she checked her head for warmth and felt nothing but skin. Indeed, her resident pain seemed evicted from her skull. It was a miracle.

Serenity tested her newfound health. She jumped to her feet and laughed heartily when she didn't immediately fall over. And when laughing didn't upset her stomach, she laughed more, testing various pitches and trying to find hers. It had been so long since she'd heard it that she had forgotten what it sounded like.

Meanwhile, the boy had had time enough to observe the formerly unconscious girl for some time. While her sudden fits of laughter had taken him quite by surprise, he liked the sound and was almost encouraged to do the same. And she had the brightest eyes that'd ever looked up at him and the reddest hair he'd ever felt and the strangest garb he'd ever seen. At any rate, he stood and smiled.

"You!" Serenity suddenly cried. "Did you heal me?" She didn't wait for an answer. Rather, she flung her arms around the boy's neck and laughed again.

"Actually — I-I…uh," the poor boy stammered. He eventually managed to pry the girl off him and attempted to finish his sentence. "I meant, _ahem_, I didn't heal you. I found you lying by the road." He nodded to the dirt path behind him. "I feared you were dead, but you're not. Though you were quite warm from lying in the sun for so long."

Serenity just stared at him with a blank look. Then, meaning struck her, and she blinked and looked around her. At every indication that she was indeed outside, her smile retracted more and more until she was pouting.

"I knew it was too good to be true," she said. "I'm not better, I'm just dreaming." She sighed. "I haven't been outside for real in _ages_."

The boy quirked an eyebrow. "But you _are_ outside. In the middle of nowhere, no less."

"Begone," Serenity said with a hmph. "I have no intention of listening to your dream talk. I'll just sit here and wait to wake up, thank you very much." And with that, she plopped down and crossed her arms, defiantly looking away.

The boy shifted from foot to foot, unsure what to do with himself. The girl merely sat there in silence, convinced that something would change if she did. Though she was extremely outlandish, he couldn't help but feel guilty at the thought of leaving her alone. He glanced up at the horizon: dark was approaching.

Serenity sighed again. "Nothing happened." She looked up at the boy with wide eyes. "Where am I?"

"The outskirts," he answered. "You know, between the kingdom and the savage lands?"

"Kingdom?" Serenity's ears perked up. Dream or not, she had never seen a king before, let alone a kingdom. Maybe if she played nice with this boy, he would take her.

The boy nodded. "It's where the Black Magician lives." He hesitated. "Y-you're not from around here, are you?"

Serenity shook her head. "Not that I know." She thought for a moment. "I guess I'm lost."

"Well, come on, then," he said, "it's getting late and the king'll be expecting me."

Serenity couldn't help but grin. "You work for the king?"

The boy smiled sheepishly. "Not exactly. I'm his student, one of the Black Acolytes."

"What does he teach you?"

"Magic. Like this." The boy's eyebrows furrowed together in concentration as he focused on the ground. He slowly lifted his hand, and a white flower grew and bloomed in sync with his movements. "There," he said triumphantly. However, his flower didn't stop. It grew until it was up to his hip and as thick as his leg. Then, without warning, it bent in on itself and blackened. The white petals quickly turned brown and fell off, while the stem shriveled and curled. Soon, the flower was no more than mulch and blew away in the wind.

Serenity clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at the boy's defeated expression, but a snicker escaped. "I'm sorry, Mr. Acolyte sir!" she said, laughing and waving her hands around. "I know I shouldn't laugh."

The boy sighed. "It's okay." He smiled. "And please, call me Tristan."

Serenity extended her hand. "Serenity," she said. "Pleased to meet you."

Tristan looked at her hand. "What're you doing?"

"Shaking hands?"

He looked first at her hands, then his. "No you're not."

Serenity blushed, wishing for the first time that it was from fever and not embarrassment. She supposed they didn't shake hands in this kingdom. (And if this were truly her dream, then they should have.) What, then, was she supposed to do? She waited for Tristan to make a move, but he merely watched her.

After a while, he just shook his head. "You really aren't from around here."

He gestured for Serenity to follow him, and together they walked down the path. They talked the whole way, Tristan about the magician king and the Acolytes and his classes, Serenity about our world and school and the fever that sent her to the Kingdom. Neither minded how the darkness swallowed the sky.


	2. Part I. Not in Domino Anymore, Chapter 2

The kingdom was far grander than anything Serenity could have imagined.

As they approached, she could see little hovels and cobbled streets lace through the sprawling town and people milling about in between, some accompanied by the strangest animals she'd ever seen. On the hills were much larger, white houses, and she could barely make out a few women in long, flowing gowns fanning themselves as they left one of them. In the distance, Serenity saw a three-towered grey castle reach up to the clouds above and watch dutifully over the town. So entranced was she by the city that she didn't notice Tristan stop before a turret. Tristan tugged gently on her arm to pull her back.

"Hey, what're you —?"

"Hush," Tristan cut her off. He pointed upwards, toward the guard at the turret.

"Who goes there?" the guard shouted down to them. He took up what Tristan knew to be a defensive stance in case they answered wrong.

"A humble servant and follower," Tristan called back, making an odd gesture with his hand. "Oh, and a guest."

"All guests must be pre-approved by his Majesty or his council." The guard narrowed his eyes at Serenity, who ducked behind Tristan.

"She was lost, and night was approaching," Tristan insisted.

The guard grumbled but lowered his arms. "You may pass," he said.

Tristan nodded curtly and, taking Serenity by the wrist, led them to the town.

"I'm glad he let us through," Serenity said with a sigh. "What would he have done to me otherwise?"

Tristan glanced at her. "Probably restrain you and have you hauled off to a dungeon to await your trial where they'll decide whether you'll be put to death or to servitude."

"That's awful!" Serenity shuddered. "And the king is okay with this?"

"He's the one who ordered it." Before Serenity could remark how terrible that was, Tristan rushed on. "But it wasn't always like that! He only started detaining strangers because the other Sorcerers told him to."

"Other..._Sorcerers_?" Serenity asked.

"Yeah," Tristan replied. "You must've heard of them. I mean, you have to belong to one of them. Unless you live in the savage lands." He gave Serenity a once-over. "Which you don't look like you do."

"I don't belong to anyone!" Serenity said, affronted at the idea of being owned. "And I'm certainly no savage." She took her wrist back and crossed her arms in front of her.

Tristan sighed quietly. How easily offended this girl was! And yet…there was something about her that was so refreshing and novel. Something in her eyes told him she was different from all the other girls his age, and definitely more special. Though he couldn't possibly put his finger on how so.

"Look," he said, pointing to a long stone building some feet away. "That's where we're headed."

"What is it?" Serenity asked, giving up on making sense of the odd looped characters on the sign.

"The tram station," he said with a grin. "We're the only domain that has one. People from all over visit just to ride it."

Serenity nodded but couldn't think of why riding public transportation would be anything special. She did it all the time at home. Nonetheless, she followed Tristan into the overflowing station. When people saw him, they parted to let them through, some looking fearful, but most staring reverently. Tristan didn't seem to notice and merely kept walking toward the ticket booth.

"Two for the castle, please," he said to the guy behind the glass.

The guy didn't look up. "I'm sure," he said sarcastically. "I'll just be needin' to see your papers."

"Pity," Tristan said casually. "Must've left them in my other robes."

At this, the ticketmaster looked up, perhaps to scold his customer. However, when he saw who — or, better yet, _what_ — Tristan was, his eyes widened.

"I b-beg your p-pardon, sir," the guy said. He rubbed his hands together nervously. "Two for the castle, you say?" He glanced down at the rolls of parchment before him. "You're in luck! One leaves in ten minutes." He took two forms and stamped them before sliding them through the window.

Tristan read them over, nodded, and pushed a few bills back through. "Keep the change."

As they walked toward the tram cables, Serenity glanced back at the people, who still stared at them. "Why are they all so afraid of you?" she asked.

"Hm?" He glanced back, too. "Oh, they're not afraid, _per se_," he said. "They just recognize an Acolyte when they see one. Since we train with the Black Magician, they think we're royal and powerful, too." He chuckled. "It has its benefits."

Serenity smirked. "Clearly."

The tram stood waiting for passengers at the gate. There weren't many boarding, so Tristan and Serenity had no problem finding two comfortable seats facing each other. The few riders who did board all wore fancy clothes similar to the gowns Serenity had seen earlier. They were rich and vibrant in color but didn't look at all comfortable. A man a few seats down kept readjusting the seams of his stockings, while the woman behind him couldn't seem to decide whether she wanted her sleeves on or off her shoulders.

Serenity exchanged a glance with Tristan, who she was sure saw the same display, and giggled.

"I very much prefer the simple Acolyte cloak," he said with a laugh.

When the car was about halfway full, a bell rang and the doors closed. The tram jerked forward and climbed out of the gate. Tristan could safely assume that Serenity had never been in a tram before, what with the way her eyes grew as she stared out the window. She ogled the shrinking figures as the tram got higher above the commoners and closer to the hills.

"That fountain is gorgeous!" she breathed, briefly fogging the glass she had her nose pressed to. Tristan looked at the porcelain sprites posed mid-cartwheel in the cascading water. He supposed it was gorgeous; then again, he was never one for art.

The tram stopped at a platform beside a row of dark green hedges that were spotted with large white flowers. Serenity smiled at them as the wind set them asway but gasped when she saw each flower quiver and glow. Suddenly, the flowers shot out of the bushes and twirled, revealing little fairies instead of stems. They flapped the petals, their wings, and flew upward, streaking the indigo sky white.

Serenity was brought of her reverie by the tram's lurch forward again. She followed the sight with her eyes as long as she could before meeting Tristan's. She smiled. Now she understood why people trekked all the way to the kingdom for the tram.

The car climbed through tier after tier, each more magnificent than the last. Serenity saw rainbow fish fly in the air, handsome children playing the strangest instruments she ever heard, and even waterfalls that flowed upwards.

When they departed from their final tier, Serenity eased back into her seat. "I can't imagine what the palace must look like after seeing all that."

"Oh trust me," Tristan replied, "you'll love it."

Soon (but not soon enough for Serenity's tastes), the pair stood before an impossibly long wrought iron fence. The sharply sloped gate opened automatically as they approached, though Serenity couldn't tell if that were meant to be comforting or haunting. Nonetheless, they stepped onto the royal grounds.

And Tristan was right. Serenity looked around her in awe at the overgrown hedges and trees and needle-point lawns. Wildlife scurried and flew uninhibited throughout, and large colorful orbs floated off the trees and toward the castle at regular intervals.

They passed under an archway and were met with a fountain lined with dots of light. A blond man dressed in similar robes as Tristan stood facing it with his back to them. When he heard their footsteps, he turned with a grin.

"Tristan," he said, throwing his hands up excitedly, "you're back!" They grasped arms and thumped each other on the back. Then the new boy looked over to Serenity. "And you brought your girlfriend."

Tristan blushed and opened his mouth to say something, but Serenity cut across him.

"I'm _not_ his girlfriend," she said sternly. "We barely know each other." She crossed her arms and glared slightly at the other boy.

The boy blinked before laughing raucously. "She's fiesty. I like her!"

Tristan sighed. "Serenity, this is my best friend Joey. Joey, this is my new friend Serenity."

"Charmed," Joey said, nodding his head slightly.

"As am I," Serenity replied, repeating his gesture hesitantly. She breathed a silent sigh of relief when neither boy laugh at her _faux pas_.

"So," Joey said, his tone losing all the mirth from earlier. "How was your forage?"

Tristan sighed. "Not good. Couldn't find anything we don't have already. Besides her, of course. And I don't think she's much help. No offense," he added quickly.

Joey nodded. "He's not gonna like this."

"Tell me about it. Dibs on not telling him!"

Joey groaned. "I always have to do it. Fine, but I get to introduce Serenity."

"Deal."

Serenity listened intently to the conversation but still couldn't follow it. However, she didn't feel it proper to interrupt and ask for explanations. This must be official court business, after all, something she was lucky enough to be privy to.

"Let's go, then," Joey said with a smile. "He's waiting for us." He winked to Serenity and turned to lead the pair inside.

The foyer was grand, but more bare than Serenity would have assumed it to be. Indeed, the only striking details about it were its plush carpet, neatly arranged portraits of people and creatures alike, and ornate brass lanterns. The boys led Serenity up a pair of steps and through an archway opening up into a similarly furnished throne room.

Serenity was a bit disappointed to see the throne — and the shorter seats positioned in a semicircle around it, for that matter — vacated. She didn't spend much time wondering where the king could have been, for a short old man burst through a hidden door and hobbled over quickly to the boys.

"Any news?" he called as he approached.

The boys exchanged a glance. "We're sorry, Solomon," Joey began. "The trip was a waste."

The old man — Solomon, apparently — sighed. "His Majesty is running out of options."

Joey cleared his throat, and Solomon looked up. "We did find something worth mentioning." He turned to face Serenity, and Solomon's eyes followed, widening when he saw the girl's face.

Serenity, who didn't like being compared to a _thing_ again, suppressed the urge to stick out her tongue at Joey and merely smiled politely at the man.

"An _Otherworlder_," he said softly. "I never thought I'd see the day." He stroked his chin. "Maybe…maybe you're what we've been searching for all along."

Serenity laughed nervously. "I think you're mistaken, sir. See, I was caught up in my fever and started hallucinating again and somehow ended up here."

Solomon quirked an eyebrow. "Hallucinating?" Serenity nodded. "Tell me, when did the fever dreams begin?"

"Well if today is still today, then three days ago."

"Three!"

"What is it?" Joey asked. "What's so special about that?"

"His Majesty took ill three days ago," Solomon answered gravely.

"Coincidence?" Tristan said.

Solomon shook his head. "No such thing." He turned again to Serenity. "Sometimes...when two beings get too close in a fever dream, one _infects_ the other. Most of the time, it is an accident and wears off soon. But this is the first time an Otherworlder has infected one of us — and a Sorcerer, no less! And by the looks of it, you're completely healed while his Liege suffers still..." He began stroking his chin.

Serenity's brows drew together. "I'm confused. What're you saying?"

"I'm saying that you passed your illness on to the king."


	3. Part I. Not in Domino Anymore, Chapter 3

Serenity's knees trembled something terrible. "I — what?" She had heard the elder perfectly (he was standing quite close enough), but she was loath to think of the punishment she'd receive for poisoning, potentially _killing_, the king, especially if strangers could end up dead just for trespassing.

No, Serenity needed no clarification, but it certainly bought her time. She really didn't like the earnest look in Solomon's eyes or the curious glances the boys sent her. She took a fraction of a step backwards, away from robed men she was sure would kill her.

Solomon sighed. "Where are my manners?" His frown dissolved into a playful little smile. "Welcome to Chatenoire. I'm sure you must be hungry. Follow me."

And with a wave, Serenity's anxiety evaporated, leaving a telltale emptiness in its stead. She followed Solomon, and the boys followed her, through an archway adjacent to the throne room. At the end of the corridor was a spiral staircase, which they descended into a large mess hall. The tables were already filled with teens dressed in robes similar to Tristan's and Joey's. They were all eating from large serving platters and chatting excitedly. Those who noticed the group's entrance nodded reverently to Solomon before returning to their companions. Serenity felt like she was back in school, and she smiled.

Solomon led them to an empty table in the back of the room and beckoned for them all to sit. Immediately, a man and a woman rounded the corner to set two platters on the table. They bowed to the elder and left as suddenly as they came.

The group fell into a forced silence, each focused on his plate as though it would disappear. Serenity kept busy by naming the colorful foods she saw. The blue game bird would be Dreams, just so she could say things like Dreams fly and she was eating Dreams — not to mention the meat was so tender, so _succulent_, with flavors she could only dream of — and the red tangy sauce would be Carmine Surprise for its spicy after taste. Or maybe the whole ensemble would just be Dreams a la Carmine. And those soft, salty white rolls would be Clouds —

"I can't just sit here," Joey declared at last, all but slamming his fork down. "While we eat, Yug — I mean, _His Majesty_ — gets weaker. There's gotta be something we can do."

Solomon closed his eyes and sighed. "It is beyond our power," he said. "We must be patient."

Joey fell to mumbling, but Tristan spoke up. "But, sir," he said like an insistent child to his father, "don't you think it's strange that you send me out to find herbs and I find an _Otherworlder_ instead?"

"I do, but —"

"And you said yourself that there's no such thing as coincidence. Which means she's gotta be here for a reason."

"Everyone's here for a reason," Serenity piped up, more out of the desire to contribute than anything.

Solomon thought hard before speaking. "I will admit," he began carefully, "that I was hasty earlier." He looked at Serenity. "We can't be sure that you really did give His Liege anything."

"But he hallucinates, just like I did," she replied. "What other symptoms does he have?" (She was really proud of that word, symptoms. It made her sound professional and grown-up. She tried not to giggle at the thought; this was serious.)

"He gets chills, especially in the night."

Serenity almost shuddered just thinking of the unbearably cold nights that no thickness of blankets could fix.

"When he's not cold, he complains about numbness."

She never fully had control of all her senses at once, not like she used to. And unless she concentrated really hard, she could end up forgetting about an entire limb. It made walking too bothersome to attempt for even a little while.

"And his headaches come and go."

Serenity snorted. That sure wouldn't last long. Oh, sure, the headaches come and go, lulling you into a false sense of security by almost promising to be temporary. But, little by little, they get longer, duller, tighter, until they melt into one giant constant throb.

"I take it you went through a similar experience?" Solomon asked.

"The same, actually." She felt immensely relieved that those days were behind her, or at least beside her until she woke up.

For when she woke up, the headaches would crush her, and the chills would set in, and the hallucinations would start over. She would lapse in and out of consciousness until her fever finally broke…whenever that day came.

Serenity didn't want to return to that. It made her feel helpless and icky. And then it hit her that the magician king was probably thinking the same thing. Her relief turned into something stickier. It made tears prick at her eyes. Someone else was suffering because of her. The solemn faces of her new friends — it was all her fault.

"There's gotta be a way," she said softly.

"Like I said," Solomon replied, "it's beyond our power."

Serenity looked him in the eye. "Then whose power does it lie in?"

The old man leaned back with a smirk. "I underestimated you." He spared the boys a glance before returning his attention to the Otherworlder who was more and more starting to intrigue him. "The journey will be perilous," he said at last, "should you choose to take it. You would traverse each corner of the land and meet each Sorcerer in order."

Tristan tensed. "Meet the Sorcerers? Alone? Would they even see her?"

"Actually, the order matters little," Solomon continued, as though uninterrupted, "so long as you gather their items in one place. They will know what to do after that, and your duty to the king will be fulfilled." He nodded and returned to his food.

Serenity stared at Solomon a few moments longer before turning her gaze down to her food. She bit her thumb lightly in contemplation. What was she to do? She hardly knew this land, whether it was a product of her feverish imagination or not, but she owed the king, didn't she?

Meanwhile, Tristan and Joey exchanged confused looks and shrugs. They ate and waited for the elder or the girl to break the hush. When neither did, Joey spoke up.

"You know," he said to Tristan in a stage whisper, "I'll bet the king will be wanting to see who his soon-to-be rescuer is."

Tristan grinned. "Oh man, you're right. Besides, you can't go on a quest without the king's seal first, right?"

Solomon practically threw his fork down. "What are you two going on about?" When the boys opened their mouths to say something, he cut them off. "Never mind, I already know."

Joey's eyes lit up. "So?"

"So what?"

"You'll take her to him?" Tristan elaborated. Serenity peeked up at Solomon, hoping he'd consent.

"Out of the question!" He shook his head vehemently.

"Aww, come on," Tristan moped.

"I bet some company would do him good," Joey persisted. "Besides, he's probably dying of boredom."

"He's barely lucid half the time, I doubt he's —!"

"Please!" both boys begged.

Solomon narrowed his eyes at them for a few long moments. At last, he sighed. "Fine. But," he added quickly, "for only five minutes. And you are not to disturb him."

Serenity didn't exactly know how she was expected to visit the magician king without disturbing him, but before she could ask, she was whisked away by the others back into the throne room.

The group walked softly up to the door Solomon had come out of earlier, padding footsteps echoing in the stillness.

"Remember," Solomon whispered, bracing his hands on the door, "five minutes." He hesitated before pushing the door open.

The door opened into a living room lined with oddly shaped sofas, all of them either purple or golden yellow. A soft breeze played with the sheer yellow curtains in the windows on either side of the room. A dark brown, almost black coffee table rested in the center, covered in water stain rings and half open scrolls. A spiral staircase stood off in a corner.

On the longest sofa, furthest from the door, lay a small figure dozing. A saucer with a half-eaten roll rested on his stomach, falling and rising with his breaths. Dangling over the side of the couch was a golden inverted pyramid that the boy wore around his neck. It was an odd fashion choice, to be sure, but Serenity tried not to stare. A purple cloth covered his eyes, forehead, and part of his hairline.

"What is his Majesty doing in the parlor?" Joey whispered harshly to Solomon.

"He refused to lie down in his bed," Solomon whispered back. "He insisted he get some work done. It was useless arguing with him, so I cast a sleeping charm on him where he sat."

The boys gaped. "B-but it's forbidden to use magic against the king!" Tristan spluttered.

Solomon crossed his arms. "I did what was best for him. And he knows that." He walked over to the sleeping form and bent down so they were eye level. He removed the cloth and snapped his fingers.

Immediately, large purple eyes opened. The boy recoiled from Solomon and looked as though he would sit bolt upright, but Solomon placed a firm hand on his shoulder to still him. Once he could read recognition in the boy's eyes, Solomon let go.

"Oh," he said timidly, "it's you." He sighed and eased back down. "It's a good thing you pulled me out of the tub. They wanted to stab me with — oh. Hello."

He waved to the teens by the door.

"Your Majesty," the boys said in unison with their heads bowed. Serenity quickly did the same.

"Solomon, look!" the king cried, pointing at Serenity. "It's a Muse. Devonne promised me one, and here she is." He beckoned Serenity closer. Tentatively, the girl complied.

"Muse," he said regally — or, as regally as he could lying down with a plate of half-finished food on his stomach — "won't you sing to me?" He turned to Solomon. "That's how Devonne said to address my Muse."

"Actually, sire," Solomon said, clearing his throat, "this young lady has business with you. Why don't you sit up — _there's_ a good lad — and listen to what she says?"

Serenity watched with awe as the magician king sat up. As he did so, his wild, tricolored hair spiked up and cascaded down his shoulders. The sunlight danced in his blond hair, but hid from the black and purple. He truly did look like a king.

And yet, he looked more fragile than Serenity would have imagined. His cheeks were flushed with telltale signs of fever, his body was slight, and he shivered uncontrollably.

"I'm listening," the king said moodily.

"Y-your Majesty," Serenity began shyly. She opened her mouth, but didn't know how to continue.

"Your Liege," Joey said, "Serenity here is an Otherworlder. She came to make you better, but she needs —"

"Better?" he asked. Serenity nodded fervently. "What does 'better' feel like?" He leaned back into the sofa. "I don't remember."

Serenity knelt down before the king and looked earnestly into his eyes. "Better feels like only one voice in your head."

His Majesty was silent for a long while, regarding Serenity as though he had seen her somewhere before. In a dream now forgotten, perhaps. But it was not like Devonne to lie; why would she now? Was this girl, this Otherworlder, not the Muse he was promised? He had half a mind to return to that desert and tell the Jinn what-for, just as soon as he found the portal and – oh, _Gods_. He was doing it again. He closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to clear it of all the fuzzy, superfluous, and utterly ridiculous thoughts. It proved harder than he realized. He opened his eyes and looked at Serenity again.

"Okay," he said simply. In what would probably be his last lucid action in a while, he thought ruefully, he took his Pendant off and gave it to Serenity.

Tentatively the girl took it. She gave the king a meaningful look and stood up.

"Tristan, draw up the documents," Solomon said. "Joey, see if you can get his Liege to lie down in his chambers. And I'll take that," he said, taking the Pendant out of Serenity's hands. Armed with their duties, the men hurried off, leaving Serenity standing in the middle of the room. She shifted her weight awkwardly from foot to foot, looking around for something to occupy her while she waited.

She decided to peruse the documents on the table, not letting the fact that they may have been classified deter her. She took in the strange writing, admiring the fancy loops and curls that filled each page. After a while, she started to pick up the cadences of the language; she knew when a question was posed, an exclamation made, or a statistic demonstrated. She could not describe the process by which this occurred, but began reading with more vigor, hoping to completely understand it by the time one of her companions returned.

"Excuse me," Solomon's voice rang out, stern and clear. Serenity thrust the title deed she had been inspecting back on the table in her surprise and looked up at Solomon. If what she had been doing were wrong, he did not show it on his face. Instead, he held out the Pendant and a rolled up piece of paper, tied with a purple tassel, to her. She stood and took it just as Tristan and Joey re-entered the room.

"Now," Tristan said with relief, "it is done." He smiled.

Joey shook his head. "No; it's only just begun."


	4. Part I. Not in Domino Anymore, Chapter 4

The boys looked intensely at Solomon while also avoiding each other's gaze. Serenity stood off to the side, looking from one to the other and utterly glad that she was not in the old man's shoes.

As for Solomon, he glared back just as seriously as they, him, managing to catch them both. "I can only spare one of you," he said for about the fifth time in as many minutes. He was quite aware that he was repeating himself, but it was all he could do to delay one of the toughest decisions he was faced with in the past month, at least. Choosing between the seemingly inseparable boys brought with it its own issues, but he would also have to live with sending one of his dear students into danger, and with the rejection, the lack of trust, the other would feel each time Solomon called upon him.

He peeked into their hearts: each was determined to help their King and friend, each confident in his ability to protect the naive Otherworlder, and each with something to prove. "Why do you want to go so badly, anyway?" he said at last. "It'll be dangerous. Even more so than the forages I've been sending you on lately."

Tristan spoke first. "Sir, what can we do but go if it means saving his Majesty's life? I hang this on my honor, not only as his loyal subject and Acolyte, but as his friend." Tristan looked satisfied with his answer, certain that he had won. He didn't look at Joey but silently dared him to do better.

"Sir," Joey finally said, more grave than Tristan had been, "you know how much his Majesty means to me. But I'm gonna be a little selfish right now. This quest...it's the only way. The only way for me to redeem myself. It's my fault he's in this predicament; it's only fair that it'll be my fault he gets out of it."

Solomon's gaze turned fully to Joey, and Tristan knew that he had lost. He allowed a small, wistful smile to cross his face before turning to Joey and grasping his shoulder. "Best of luck, man," he said softly.

The fire hadn't completely left Joey's eyes, so when they turned to regard Tristan, the brunette immediately felt foolish for wishing him something so unnecessary.

"Thanks, man," Joey said with a sunny smile. Then, more seriously, "Take care of the place."

Serenity hadn't quite caught all of the transaction, but when Joey stepped forward to join Serenity's side, she knew he would be her companion. And deep down, it made complete sense.

* * *

"It ain't much," Sloane said bright and early the next day, "but it'll get the job done." He squatted down to pat the wooden wheel affectionately.

"It's perfect," Joey reassured the mechanic, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Serenity, who didn't know much about wagons at all, simply nodded her agreement. For all intents and purposes, it did look large enough to house both her and her companion comfortably for a few days.

"When do you set out, sir?" Sloane asked as he stood up and wiped his brow.

"Today," Joey said simply.

Sloane's eyes widened. "Good luck," he said, clasping Joey's hand, "and Godspeed."

Joey smiled, and he and Sloane pushed the caravan outside the shed so they could harness the draft beasts to the front. Serenity expected them to be horses; she was utterly shocked to find the duo covered in smooth, velvety skin, resembling giant salamanders.

"Urodelas," Joey said before she could ask. "Good in temperate whether, dry or wet." He patted the two creatures affectionately; they sort of purred in response. "Get ready to leave," he continued. "After the wagon is loaded, we'll head out."

Serenity nodded and went back to the palace yard. She watched in awe still as the bright orbs plucked themselves from their trees and floated toward the castle. Tristan caught one out of the air and bit into it as Serenity approached him.

"Hi there," he said, mouth full of fruit. He swallowed and continued: "Leaving soon, eh?"

Serenity nodded. "I just wanted to say goodbye and –" she hesitated – "and thank you."

Tristan stared at her for a moment. "For what?" He punctuated it with nervous laughter.

"For bringing me here. And standing up for me. And letting me go with Joey. You're a great friend." She smiled.

Tristan didn't know how to respond, so he merely smiled back. He was rescued from the necessity of speech by Solomon's arrival. "Ah, Serenity," he called as he hobbled over to join the teens. "Come to bid farewell?"

The girl nodded again. "I'm nervous," she admitted, "but I know we'll do it."

"Good." The old man's eyes twinkled. "Remember: just show the questing papers to each Sorcerer's court, and you'll be granted an audience. Without those papers, you may be arrested."

Serenity nodded resolutely. "I'll do my best, you have my word."

Solomon was pleased. This Otherworlder had promise, and surely her best would count for more than either could then realize.

"Serenity!" came Joey's voice from one field over.

"That's my cue," she said. She bowed reverently to Solomon and hugged Tristan (which utterly perplexed the boy, poor soul) before turning and dashing back to the wagon. She did not look back.

* * *

The ride was much bumpier than Serenity had expected. She tried to find the romantic charm she had originally associated with the trip, but after the first fifteen minutes, the countryside got a bit monotonous. She looked sideways to her silent companion for the umpteenth time in as many minutes only to find him concentrating wholly on directing the Urodelas. She sighed and glanced behind them at their provisions and found them – as she had every other time she looked – unperturbed.

Serenity returned her gaze to the road ahead of her and crossed her arms over her chest and sighed deeply.

Joey chuckled knowingly. "The outskirts of the Kingdom are pretty boring," he agreed. Even the handful of times he had been so far from the kingdom had gotten him accustomed to the plainness of the flat grasslands, distant hills, drooping trees, the whole scene. "But worry not: we'll be reaching the savage lands soon."

Serenity's ears perked up. "Really? And what exactly is in these savage lands?"

Joey shrugged. "Savages?" He laughed as Serenity rolled her eyes. "I've never actually been beyond the Kingdom. I know only the stories the travelers tell us of the Betwixt. Some say you can't take twenty steps without tripping over some barbarian camp. Others say there are dozens of little towns, independent of any kingdom, that exist just to serve travelers. One even told me about migrant troupes that go to every settlement to perform."

Serenity's eyes glossed over as she imagined each of the tales Joey recounted to her, which made her even more eager to leave the Kingdom once and for all. So it was with no trepidation that she and Joey approached the stone wall keeping the savage lands at bay. The companions exchanged a look and nod before crossing the gates and into unfamiliar territory to both.


	5. Part II. If I Only Had

Joey and Serenity both waited with baited breaths to behold the danger and new scenery of the savage lands named the Betwixt, but after a few paces, they were disappointed.

"It's just more of the same," Joey said petulantly. A bird whooped from a drooping tree, as if to corroborate his point.

Serenity nodded and tried to hide her disappointment, if only for Joey's sake. "We'll see something eventually, I know it." She patted his shoulder.

_Eventually _came sooner than either expected. Mere moments later, the road their wagon followed bent into a small grove, whose trees lined and arched over the path. Patterns adorned the packed dirt as sunlight filtered through the canopy, barely enough to pierce the intermediate darkness. The whole scene was eerily sublime, and Serenity waited with cautious excitement to enter the makeshift tunnel. When the wagon entered the grove and nothing happened, she sighed out a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. She visibly relaxed as she took in the new surroundings. Every so often, as the wind blew through the branches, she could hear tinkling in the distance, and a few times she caught silver strung up through the leaves.

"You know," said Joey, loosening her rapt attention a little, "right before the harvest season, we do the same thing." He pointed to a particular string of silver bells.

"'One to keep the grimgos out;

one for bounties all;

One to make my mother pout:

the last for rain to fall.'

That's what all the kids say when we're hanging the bells up in the trees and over the doors and whatnot."

Serenity laughed at the cute rhyme, which reminded her of some of the ones her mother taught her in childhood. "What's a grimgo?" she asked absently.

Joey shuddered. "Nasty little things," he spat. "They steal food when no one's looking, which tends to get a lot of farmhands in trouble, I'll tell ya. They don't like the sound of bells – that's why everyone puts 'em up just before harvest."

"You think whoever put up _these _bells was trying to keep grimgos out, too?"

Joey shrugged and gave the bells another glance. "Maybe. It's okay though, they're not in season yet. Someone probably just forgot to take the bells down. This _is_ a pretty remote place."

They soon exited the grove and were greeted by warm, full light once again. Once his eyes adjusted to the brightness, Joey yanked his reigns, urging the Urodelas to stop, so that he could scrutinize a signpost marking the fork in the road.

"Hand me that map there," he ordered Serenity. She gave it to him, and he quickly unfurled it and held it up in front of him. "According to this," and he shook the parchment for emphasis, "there's a town in the east with a rest stop. Doesn't look that far." He pointed out the eastern route to Serenity and traced it with his finger until he hit a small square indicating a town center. "Once we get there, we can let the Urodelas stop and eat."

Serenity nodded. She wholly trusted Joey with the navigation, if only because she did not know this world as well as he. Joey grinned and urged the lizards forward. Once the pace had returned to its former monotony, Serenity turned to her companion. "So," she began slowly.

"So...?"

She suddenly found the hem of her shirt very interesting. "I was just thinking about what you said to Solomon before he chose you for the quest, and, well...can I ask you something?" She looked up from under her lashes, afraid he would deny her.

He tensed up, knowing just what Serenity was referring to. It was only natural that Serenity be curious about his words, but a shot of nervous guilt raced through him at the thought of retelling the story nonetheless. Oh, well. He was a man, and he would own up to his mistakes. Even – and especially – to this costly one. "Shoot."

"W-what exactly did you mean that it was _your _fault the king got sick?"

Joey smiled despite himself. "It's kind of a long story. Sure you wanna hear it all?" he teased. Serenity nodded resolutely. "Fine." He took an imperceptible breath and began. "Many moons ago, Yug – I mean, his Highness – began visiting all of the lands under his kingdom, at least once every quarter-cycle. He called it the Grand Tour. The people loved it, for he would travel to even the remotest cities and smallest villages to see them. Once there, the city would throw a huge banquet in his honor, and everyone was invited to the festivities. The next day, he would inspect the governors and lords and infrastructure and all that to make sure everything was tip-top. Believe you, me, the people loved it because everyone had to be on their best behavior, but the lords sure didn't! Anyway, he had fun, the people enjoyed it, everyone had a good time. But something happened last Tour that stopped everything.

"Last quarter, the King chose me as his personal security since I never got to see beyond the palace and inner territories before. He told Solomon that it was for my real-world training as an Acolyte, and the old man actually bought it! So, we got to visit some of the towns, celebrate, eat, dance, listen to the officials drone on and on about how perfectly they were running things, the whole shebang. When we were done with the inner territories, we went to the first of the outlying towns. The first night we spent there was also our last.

"See, when we got there, we heard tons of rumors about a visiting druid in the local forest. Of course, the two of us were interested in seeing this for ourselves. So, we snuck out that night to check it out. We blended in with all the other teens doing the same thing. But when we got to the edge of the forest, they all scattered. We didn't think much of it at the time; we just jumped right in, sticking close together so we wouldn't get lost in the dark. After a while, his Highness saw a blue light in the distance. We chased after it, hoping to find the druid, but what we found was a curse." He spat the word.

"_Curse_?" Serenity asked for clarification, for in our world curses are intangible things.

Joey nodded. "A curse is the residue of a spell performed by a strong magician," he said, reciting from his apprentice textbook. Never did he think that Solomon was right about it coming in handy. "I was okay, but the king..." Joey sighed. "The king was knocked out cold for the rest of the night and most of the following morning. I had to call on Solomon to ask for advice, and he told me to bring him back to Chatenoire,the castle. That night, he fell into his first fever."

Serenity took in the story, but something just did not make sense to her. "I still don't see how it was all _your _fault," she said.

Joey glanced at her. "Don't you see?" he said. "If I had only kept him inside that night..." He sighed. "But I didn't. I let my curiosity cloud my judgment, and he is suffering for it."

Serenity threw her arm around his shoulder. "It can't be _all _your fault, Joey," she said. "After all, I was the one who passed along my fever. It's my fault, too."

Joey gave her a small smile. As kind as it was for Serenity to try and comfort him, he knew the truth. It was his fault, his burden, and he would be damned if someone else would bear the brunt of it. "Thanks," he said.

They spent the next several minutes in comfortable silence. They noticed the tall wild grass lining the sides of the road start to thin. A wooden fence appeared as they rode along, encircling a small farmstead. There was a barn on the edge of the farm, its windows and doors boarded shut and paint peeling from broken panels. The rows were filled with withered stalks that were doubled over until they were only knee-high. Serenity watched the scenery as it passed and saw a string of bells over a doorway on the barn.

"Looks abandoned," Joey said, nodding to a rusted draft plough.

They continued on until they found another property, this time an empty stockyard. Again, the place looked abandoned, and again Serenity found the entrances of the main house laced with silver bells. Neither traveler spoke; instead, they swallowed their mounting unease and went on along their way. After passing a few more tracts of land, the properties began getting smaller and closer together until they merely resembled homes and yards, but they were no more populated than the previous properties.

"This is starting to get creepy," Joey said. His hands faltered a moment in directing the Urodelas, and the cart jolted forward. "Heh, sorry," he said sheepishly.

Serenity silently forgave him. "Same here," she said. The sight of yet another dilapidated house trimmed in silver bells gave her goose bumps. She looked away from it as they passed but returned her attention when she heard a muffled clanging, like metal striking metal. "Did you hear that?"

Joey nodded. "Maybe there's someone home after all," he said. Without pause, he directed the Urodelas through the rusted gates of the yard and parked in front of the house. The clanging had gotten louder and fell into a steady rhythm. Joey jumped out of the wagon, petting each draft beast as he made his way to the other side to help Serenity down. Together they walked to the front door, each guessing what could have been causing the noise.

Serenity knocked on the door, and it fell open, swaying slightly in the breeze. She peeked inside and saw the dark foyer and dusty floor. She turned to Joey and shook her head.

"Then where is that noise coming from?" he shouted above the clanging. He tilted his head, trying to catch the sound. It was coming from _behind _the house. "C'mon!" He tugged on Serenity's sleeve and dashed off the porch and around the corner. In the backyard was an open smithy. (Joey knew this; Serenity thought that it was quite a large furnace.) There were dozens of metal works (weapons and tools alike) strewn about the workshop haphazardly. A hunched figure stood before a mighty anvil, striking a glowing rod of hot metal with a hammer – this was the source of the noise. "Excuse me," Joey said, but the figure did not appear to hear him. Joey cleared his throat and tried again. "Excuse me!"

The figure's hand faltered in mid-air. Rather than strike the molten metal again, it brought the hammer to its side and looked over at the approaching duo. Visitors here? How peculiar.

Joey stopped in his tracks when the figure turned to face them, revealing under its mass of ash-blond hair the bold _Emeth_ etched across its forehead. Serenity stopped, too, and looked at him questioningly.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly so that the smith couldn't hear her.

"It's a G_olem_," he replied, equally soft. Before she could ask, he clarified, "A summoned servant. It's not human."

While Joey narrowed his eyes in suspicion, Serenity returned her attention to the subject at hand, fascinated by the prospect of encountering her first non-human being!

The smith in question set its hammer down and looked from Serenity, meeting her gaze briefly, to Joey. "Can I help you?" it asked monotonously. It had been ages since it spoke to people, so it couldn't quite find the correct inflection that usually accompanied those words.

Joey's facial expression hardened. "We have traveled a long distance," he answered stonily. "Our draft beasts require rest and water."

The Golem nodded before wiping its hands on the apron it wore and walking toward the ramshackle house. "Bring the beasts around back," it called over its shoulder and continued walking inside.

Joey nodded curtly before beckoning for Serenity to follow him. Once they were in the front yard again, he detached the wagon from the carriage and handed the reins to Serenity. She looked down nervously at the ropes, then at the Urodelas, whose thrashing heads looked more violent by the second. It wasn't soon enough that Joey took the reins again and began urging the lizards to follow him. Serenity sighed in relief and fell into step beside him.

"So what exactly _is_ a Golem?" she asked.

Joey shuddered slightly. "They are wooden or stone effigies brought to life by strong dark magic," he explained. "They swear to serve their creators for the rest of their existence."

Serenity nodded. "So shouldn't this Golem's master be around here somewhere?" She looked around as though the very query would make the person appear; of course, it did not.

"Yeah. I've never seen a Golem without its master. Strange." And he said nothing more about it. The Golem itself made Joey wary (as he usually was around dark magic), so not getting to meet its creator was no loss for him. He just wanted to make sure the Urodelas were well rested and get out as soon as possible.

When they reached the backyard again, Serenity saw that the Golem was emptying a bucket of water into a makeshift trough against one of the walls of the smithy. It turned in time to see the duo approach, its purple eyes settling blankly on the giant lizards behind the humans. It supposed such strange creatures were in order for the even stranger pair.

"Please," it said to Joey as he pulled the Urodelas closer, "rest your beasts here." It didn't hesitate to help Joey shackle the animals and encourage them to drink. It looked up at the teenagers. "You two must be tired from your journey. Follow me into the house."

Serenity obeyed, which encouraged Joey to do the same. They entered through a back door, and Serenity had to suppress a cough at the dust that swirled around in the wake of the swinging door. Sunlight filtered through the narrow slits in the curtains on all the windows, and through the dim light Serenity saw the old furniture, mildewed walls, and broken picture frames. So transfixed she was by her surroundings that she bumped into a low-hanging silver bell over the doorway to the dining room. "Oh!" she said in surprise before ducking underneath it.

"My apologies," the Golem said, "I have not gotten around to removing the grimgo bells yet." It gestured towards the table. "Sit." As soon as the two had settled into their seats, the Golem left through yet another doorway. Momentarily, it brought back a pitcher of some pink liquid, a couple of glasses, and a platter of freshly sliced bread and jams. It placed them between the teens. "Eat," it said simply.

"Won't you join us?" Serenity asked politely.

The servant shook its head. "I do not require food or drink. I merely exist to serve."

"Then sit with us," she insisted. "Please." She nodded to the seat beside her as she poured herself a drink. The Golem hesitated but took up Serenity's offer. As soon as it sat down, Serenity asked, "So, do you have a name?"

It was silent for a long moment, and even Joey looked up from his snack to regard the thing. "My master named me Marik," it spoke at last. "But that was a while ago."

Serenity quirked an eyebrow. "Really? What happened to your master?" she asked.

"He left," Marik stated simply, "just like the rest of the town."

She nodded. That certainly explained the creepy, abandoned homesteads they had seen earlier. "What happened?"

It shrugged. "Food kept vanishing. At first, they thought it was the grimgos staying later than usual, so everyone hung up more bells, hoping to remind the nasty things to leave. Then, people – especially small children – started disappearing, too. They tried hunting down whatever was behind it, to no avail. Some wanted to forge a protection charm –"

"What's that?"

"An enchanted stone or gem at the center of a town or city that protects it from dark sorcery and magical creatures. But the town is too spread out for the charm to work properly. Besides, since it doesn't belong to any of the four kingdoms, they would have had to find an extremely powerful mage to do it. Even he who created me could not do it. In the end, the townspeople thought it best to just leave."

Joey could not imagine how much fear the citizens must have felt to abandon their homes completely like this. He had definitely taken his security behind the Kingdom walls for granted. "Why didn't you go with them?" he asked Marik indifferently.

"My master did not will it, and so I remain here to finish my job."

"Which is...?"

"To smith and craft, sunrise to sunset." Marik smirked. "And to treat the occasional guest."

Serenity had lost her appetite for the (surprisingly sweet) bread. Packing up and leaving home for self-preservation's sake was one thing, but how could someone just forsake the very thing he created? It did not feel right to the girl, but she said nothing.

"If that is all," Marik continued, breaking Serenity out of her reverie, "then I will return to work. Stay as long as you like, and please make yourselves comfortable." It stood, gave them a curt nod, and left the room. It wasn't long before the clanging outside resumed.

Serenity drank in silence and absently watched Joey finish the loaf of bread. "S'pose they have any raw meat in the kitchen, there?" Joey spoke at last.

"I doubt it," she replied.

"Yeah, you're right. Doesn't look like the place has been stocked for _months_. I'm surprised it had this much." He waved a hand over the now-empty platter. "Oh, well, I suppose I'll feed the Urodelas out of the stores we brought." He rose. "After that, we can leave."

"Wait," Serenity said with a sigh. "I feel bad just leaving Marik here alone."

Joey's eyes narrowed. "Why? It's just a Golem. It can't feel like we can. Its place is here, where it was ordered to stay." He crossed his arms, daring her to defy.

"But what a pathetic existence," Serenity persisted. She looked Joey in the eye. "Imagine if your king had ordered you to do some errand in the castle and then picked up and left without saying a word to you, and all you could do was keep working, hoping he would someday return?"

Joey hesitated. He rolled his eyes but dropped his arms to his sides. "Like I said, Golems don't _feel_." He turned on his heel and left the dining room.

But Serenity was not put out yet. She leapt up to follow her companion as he went to the front of the house towards the front yard. "Either way," she said, "it is a shame to let any moving, talking..._thing _be alone for the rest of its existence."

"What would you have us do, then?" Joey asked rhetorically. "Invite him along with us?"

Serenity smiled smugly. "That's a _wonderful _idea."

"Wait, Serenity, I was jok–!"

"It's okay, I'll ask him!" She didn't wait for Joey's response. Instead, she ran to the back door and into the yard. Joey joined her momentarily, desperate to see how exactly this fiasco would go down. "E-excuse me!" Serenity called over Marik's hammering. The Golem paused, looked at the intruder's face, and dropped the hammer in much the same fashion it had done earlier.

"How can I help you?" it asked.

"It's just..." Serenity began but could not find the words quickly enough to finish. The thought of inviting Marik along their quest seemed fantastic in her head, but now she just felt silly. "Well, Joey and I were wondering if you'd like to come with us?" Joey scoffed at his being included in this entreaty. "You know, instead of wasting away here."

Marik's eyes widened in surprise. Never had it thought of leaving; after all, how could it? "That is flattering, miss, but I cannot leave the smithy."

"Why not?"

"Because I am bound by contract to stay."

Serenity huffed in indignation. She did not see what a piece of paper had to do with any of this. "Well, what would you have to do to break this contract?"

Again, Marik was shocked into silence. A wayward fantasy or two would occasionally float through its daily musings of severing its contract and flying off to the distant lands of imagination, but those dreams always died with the fire in its furnace at night. And now...and now this chance encounter with a strange girl and her companion would change the impossible to reality. Numbly, it pointed to the word on its forehead. "This is my contract," it said. "You break it by erasing the first E."

Serenity nodded her understanding. "And then what?"

"I would no longer be a Golem," it replied.

"What _would _you be?" she asked.

The question weighed heavily with the servant. What would it be, indeed? Marik knew that it was more precocious than any ordinary stone, if its animation weren't evidence of that already. However, was Marik sentient enough to qualify as human? Could _it _become _he_? It didn't know, but one thing was certain: a chance at life, however slim, was worth more than a safe eternity in solitude, and if it could not survive the severance, then so be it. "I don't know," it answered simply.

Serenity gulped, terrified at the thought of destroying the pitiful thing. Joey remained motionless beside her, content to let her ponder this moral dilemma alone. She looked into Marik's eyes once more, and when it nodded back to her, she reached out a trembling hand to his forehead. With just enough pressure, she carefully, _slowly_, rubbed the first E away. When it had been completely erased, she drew her hand back, and the remaining word _meth_ began to glow like the embers in the Golem's furnace.

A searing pain ran through Marik's body, starting at the letters on his forehead and coursing through him like an artificial blood flow. He cowed in the presence of agony, dropping to his knees as he tried to see and think clearly. And then, like a drop from a leaky faucet, a thought occurred to him: he could feel _pain_. The thought alone was distraction enough from the sensation, and his elation eventually replaced it. When it was over, he chuckled to himself before the sound became a clear and booming laugh. He stood and rushed to take Serenity's hands into his own.

"Thank you," he said, a grin plastered to his face. "I could never repay this kindness. If it would please you, I'd like to accept your offer to travel with you."

Serenity opened her mouth to accept, but was surprised to hear Joey speak first. "You now have the world at your fingertips, and you want to travel with _us_?" His apathetic tone did not completely bely his curiosity and wonder.

Marik nodded. "Absolutely."

Serenity beamed at the both of her companions. "Well, it's your choice," she told the ex-Golem. And that was how two became three.


	6. Part II. If I Only Had: Chapter 2

They were able to easily accommodate Marik inside their wagon, despite Joey's initial insistence that the Urodelas' feed, their changes of clothes, and water didn't leave a lot of room for guests. If Marik caught on that Joey was just being stubborn about the ex-Golem's admittance to the group, he didn't let on. This pleased Serenity, who joined Marik in the wagon amongst the stores to talk more with her newest companion. 

"So, what kinds of places did you imagine visiting?" Serenity asked him at some point. 

Marik cocked his head to the side in thought. "I've always wanted to see the big cities way off in the distance," he said at last. "Living on the countryside gets a little dull after a while." 

Serenity nodded. That was perfectly reasonable. "You know," she said, "Joey and I are on a quest to find the Sorcerers–" 

"Hey!" Joey interrupted through the window. "Don't go telling him that. It's a covert mission. You know, secret?" 

"But he's traveling with us now. He's bound to find out eventually. Besides, I trust him. Don't you?" 

Joey said nothing. Instead, he started grumbling grumpily to himself. 

"Anyway," Serenity continued, "we're on a quest to save the Black Magician King." 

Marik nodded slowly, feeling the weight of such a noble quest. He had heard of the Black Magician King from passing travelers, but never imagined one day having anything to do with him, let alone meeting his very saviors. "Is he in danger?" he asked, immediately cursing his naïveté of the situation. 

Serenity tilted her head to the side in contemplation. "Well...not the kidnapped kind of danger. Or the running-from-a-dangerous-animal kind, either." She shook her head to clear her mind of all the sudden images of just what kind of danger a King could get himself into and levied Marik with a direct look. "He's sick. I...accidentally passed it onto him, and now we have to gather the items from the other Sorcerers to help heal him." 

"And who are the other Sorcerers?" 

Serenity opened her mouth to speak but realized that she, in fact, didn't know the answer. Instead, she turned to Joey, prompting Marik to do the same. 

Joey noticed the sudden silence from behind him. "You mean, you don't know?" he called over his shoulder to Marik. Then he shrugged. "Well, I suppose you wouldn't, living in the Betwixt and all. There are four Sorcerers in all. His Majesty's Kingdom is to the east. The Oracle, who we're headed to now, is in the west. The Dragon-Tamer's Palace is in the north and is the most heavily guarded. And the White Mage is in the south. He's pretty secluded and...odd." Joey didn't elaborate. "Anyway, that's the roster. They each have their own items and abilities." 

"That's amazing," Serenity said in awe. She was already impressed by the Black Magician's Kingdom, so the thought of seeing more wonders, all unique in their own right, overfilled her with enthusiasm. She turned to her new companion. "Isn't it?" 

Marik nodded and smiled. "I can't wait." 

Marik and Serenity continued their chatter, with occasional interruptions from Joey to offer his expertise. Before long, the dirt road beneath their wagon began to smooth and widen, indicating that they were entering a town. Indeed, Joey noticed a worn signpost beside a pair of large open gates. He tugged at the reins to slow the Urodelas to a trot, which prompted the two passengers to poke their heads out. 

Before them lay a small cropping of low huts and houses, over which towered a wide domed building. Joey pulled into the rest stop by the town's entrance, and the three companions hopped out. 

"What do you suppose it is?" Serenity asked Marik, who only shrugged in reply. They turned to Joey. 

"Don't ask me," he replied as he tied the Urodelas to a post. "We gotta wait for the Urodelas to rest up, so why don't we check it out?" 

The three left the rest stop and trekked through the town on their way to the grand structure in the distance. Serenity was dismayed to see some of the townsfolk eyeing Marik warily and giving him a wide berth, but if the ex-Golem noticed, he didn't let on. Rather, he had eyes only for the compact shops and taverns lining the streets they walked. Most of them had their wide entrances propped open, inviting a steady stream of passers-by to enter and leave as they pleased. Children zig-zagged through the pedestrians' legs from hut to hut, laughing when shop-keeps chased them away. Colorful banners and flags advertising the wares inside flew gently in the midday breeze. 

At last, the trio reached the large building. It was lined with a series of arches for entrances, allowing the companions to see the throngs of people, counters and stern clerks arguing with patrons, and even more shops lining the walls. The three walked inside and marveled at the vaulted ceiling and visible upper floors as they dodged hurried shoppers. 

"What is this place?" Marik asked in awe. 

"And is it always so busy?" Serenity chimed in. They both turned to Joey, who merely shrugged. Instead of answering, he tapped a random man on the shoulder. 

"Hey man, what is this place?" the blond asked. 

The man raised an eyebrow. "The Grand Bazaar, of course." He rolled his eyes when he saw the three blank faces blink back at him. "This here is the trade capital of the Betwixt," he continued. "The Grand Bazaar is where merchants the land over come to do business. Now, if you'll excuse me," and he turned to walk away, mumbling something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like "Damn tourists" to Marik. 

"Well, that explains all the shops," Joey said, returning his attention to his companions. "I'll bet everything here is super expensive. Don't touch anything." Marik and Serenity nodded and followed behind Joey around the Bazaar. 

"Hullo sir!" cried a tall and thin man dressed in fitted and shiny robes. "Might I interest you in opening an account with Laird and Quest?" 

Joey stopped and looked around, convinced the man was speaking to someone else. "Who?" he asked. 

The man's eyes widened. "You mean, you haven't heard? Why, Laird and Quest are only the largest bankers in all the Betwixt! Throughout the Realms, even!" 

"W-what's a bank?" 

The man chuckled, but it was Serenity who answered. "It's a place that protects your money," she said. "You leave it with them, and they hold it until you need it again." 

Joey _hmph_ed. "That sounds a little too good to be true." 

"It really works," Serenity said. "We have them in my world, too." 

"But what if I needed my money and I was really far away from this...bank?" 

"That's the best part!" the man said. "You can go to any Laird and Quest bank and access your funds. We give you the amount you ask for from our stash and then transfer the money from where you left it to us to pay the difference." 

Joey stroked his chin. "But what's in it for you? How do you profit?" 

The man rubbed his hands together nervously. "Th-that's really too much to explain right this moment." 

"I don't know," Joey said, "still sounds too far-fetched for me. Pass." And he started to walk away, prompting the others to do the same. 

"Have you really never used a bank before?" Serenity asked. 

Joey shook his head. "Never. You?" 

"All the time! Well...my parents do." 

"I think the man was telling the truth," Marik said, "or else the other merchants wouldn't have trusted him, either." 

"Yeah, well, why don't you leave _ your _money with 'im then?" Joey grumbled. 

"I don't have any." 

"I know, that was the – ugh, never mind." 

The companions explored the Bazaar for a little while longer before deciding to continue their journey. They returned to the Urodelas and prepared to enter the wagon and leave the city when Joey noticed something. 

"Wait," he said quietly, eyeing the flap covering the opening warily. It looked like someone had hastily moved it back into place, and the latch certainly hadn't been refastened. "Get behind me," he said to Serenity. She obeyed. 

Joey gestured for Marik to get ready to open the flap as he quickly thought of a charm to incapacitate who – or what – was inside. With a sharp nod from Joey, Marik threw the flap open. A person sat hunched behind one of the crates, hands flying to shield his eyes from the sudden onslaught of natural light. 

"What are you doing here?" Joey demanded. 

The man lurched forward (incidentally revealing a head full of snowy white hair) and grasped for the flap in Marik's clutch. "You fools, shut the flap! They'll be here any moment." He re-covered the opening and peeked through the gap. "Pretend I'm not here." 

Before either of the companions could respond, a group of burly men marched by, knocking over barrels and ducking behind booths – they were clearly looking for something. Serenity shrank away as the group approached them, and Joey instinctively took a half-step forward. 

"You guys seen this thief?" one of them asked, holding up a poor drawing that nonetheless depicted the stranger in their wagon. 

"Oh, um," Serenity began, glancing nervously at the wagon, but Joey cut him off. 

"No," he said, his expression guarded. "We're just passing through." 

The man growled but stuffed the picture back in his shirt. "Well, if you do, let us know." And he gestured for his group to continue down the path. 

When the men were out of earshot, Serenity turned to Joey. "Why did you lie? We could've gotten rid of the stranger!" 

Joey shook his head. "I didn't like the look of 'em," he said. He turned back to the wagon and threw the cover back. "And you!" he said, pointing accordingly to the white-haired man, "You owe us an explanation!" 

The fugitive looked between the three of them, making no indication that he was ready to leave the wagon any time soon. "What do you want to know?" he asked cautiously. 

"Oh, I don't know," Joey replied sardonically, "maybe why you were hiding from those guys. And why in our wagon, of all places!" 

"You could at least start with your name," Serenity piped up. 

"My name is Bakura," he said with a slight smirk at Serenity. "I'm a woodsman with the Farodin Company. By day, at least." 

Joey quirked an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?" 

"It means people tend to notice their pockets lighten around me." Joey's eyes widened, and he frantically began checking their stores. Bakura laughed at him and said, "Relax, I only target other thieves." 

Serenity and Marik exchanged a glance, both apparently unsure of what to make of this stranger. Joey, on the other hand, merely huffed and crossed his arms. "Okay," he said, "you've been in there long enough. Hop out so we can get going." 

Bakura stayed put. "Where're you headed?" 

"The other side of the Betwixt," Marik said. 

"We're on a quest," Serenity added. 

Joey turned to glare at the both of them over his shoulder. "That's enough, you two." 

"Crossing the Betwixt, you say," Bakura repeated, stroking his chin. "Mind if I tagged along? I'm clearly not welcome here anymore." He glanced furtively past the group in the direction that the men from earlier had headed. 

"What? No!" Joey said. "We've indulged you long enough." 

“Oh, come on," Bakura drawled. "I'll make it worth your while." He turned to something on the other side of him and pulled an item out. He held up a golden wristband patterned with blood-red jewels. 

Serenity ogled the jewelry, wondering how much Bakura had stolen if he was offering something so precious as mere fare. She noticed Joey examining the band, as well, and could practically see the resolve in his face ebb away. 

"Where are you going, exactly?" Joey asked begrudgingly. 

"Oh, nowhere in particular," Bakura replied, twirling the band. "Just as far away from _ here _as possible." 

Joey groaned but snatched the band and pocketed it. "Fine," he said tersely. "But you're staying back here." He turned to Serenity. "Mind staying back here to keep an eye on him?" 

Serenity shrugged. "I don't mind, but will you two be all right up front?" she asked, gesturing to Joey and Marik. She had really wanted to ask if Joey was still going to be standoffish and cold to Marik because he used to be a Golem, but she didn't know how to say that without making Marik feel bad. 

"Sure, why not?" Joey said. "This way Marik'll get to see the Betwixt, which was the whole point of bringing him along, right?" 

Marik's eyes grew at the mention of the new sights he'd witness soon enough. Serenity beamed at them both. "Okay, then. Let's get going!" 

* * *

The troupe, now another member larger, was once again on the countryside. From the peeks Serenity stole from the back of the wagon, she knew she wasn't missing much. These roads reminded her of the ones just outside the Kingdom of Black before they found Marik. She figured that this was what all the space between towns and cities must look like: open fields, small homes, large farmhouses, the occasional brook or pond. 

Bakura had taken to rummaging through his sack, apparently counting his loot. Serenity wondered if he trusted her enough to reveal his treasures, or if he just didn't see her as a threat. Either way, she was prepared to use that to her advantage. She cleared her throat. "So," she began, "you said that you only steal from other thieves. Why is that?" 

"Why, they make for better marks," he replied without looking up. 

"And those men who were after you – they were thieves?" 

Bakura nodded as he tossed another trinket into his sack. "Part of the notorious Fang den," he said, looking up to give her a meaningful look. At Serenity's blank expression, he quirked an eyebrow. "You don't know the Fang? You're not from around here, are you?" 

Serenity shook her head and thought it best not to confuse matters by mentioning other worlds. A stubborn part of her wondered still if this were an elaborate fever dream (though she knew she wasn't clever enough to concoct schemes involving thieves' dens). "And you? I take it you're not from that town if you're so eager to leave it. Where are you from?" 

"I'm from nowhere," Bakura replied resolutely. "Even took up contracting work with Farodin's so I could move around. For all the good it's doing me now," he added in a huff. 

"What do you mean?" 

"The work's dried up. There's a woodrot spreading through the forest Farodin contracted, so he's had to let some of us go. Hence the supplemental income." He gestured to the loot bag. 

"What caused the woodrot?" Serenity asked, leaning forward with interest. 

He shrugged. "Some say it's sabotage. Others say it's a curse." 

"And what to you say it is?" 

"Bad for business." 


	7. Part II. If I Only Had, Chapter 3

By the time Joey decided that the Urodelas needed a break, Serenity was developing a leg cramp. She happily hopped out of the carriage to stretch, Bakura right behind her. They had stopped at a rest area, by the looks of it, with a trodden dirt lot outlining enough space for a row of troughs for draft beasts and food stalls for their riders.

Serenity and Bakura joined the other pair at the front of the wagon in time to watch them tie the Urodelas to a post and stretch.

"You guys hungry?" Joey asked, already turning to scan the food stalls.

"Sure," Bakura said. "I could eat a whole whatever that thing is." He nodded to one of the Urodelas, who gave him an odd look in return.

"I don't really eat," Marik admitted. This, of course, begged their new companion's curiosity, so they briefly explained what Marik was and how they met, all while following Joey to a promising stall just outside of a wooden hut.

Having already tried some of this world's food, Serenity was content to let Joey place an order for her, but Bakura was eagerly selecting half the menu. "We're paying separately," Joey muttered to the server as he handed over a fistful of coins.

The four watched the cook prepare their orders from scratch on the other side of the stall, Marik and Serenity more fascinated than the others. The smell told Serenity when it was done, and she reached out to take her plate just as a door slammed open.

All four travelers (and the stall workers) whipped their heads to look at the commotion. Two burly men were half carrying, half dragging a smaller man out of the hut. When they were far enough from the entrance, they dropped him on the ground, and the man let out a muffled "Oof," into the cloud of dirt.

"And stay out!" one of them shouted. "And just so you know, we're sending someone by tonight to collect what you owe on your tab."

The man on the ground turned over so he was on his back and propped himself up on his elbows weakly. "Tell them I'll be at your sister's place," he said with a wry smile.

Serenity's eyes widened at the crass joke, while Bakura and Joey snickered. (Marik didn't understand the implications.) The men from the hut obviously didn't find it as funny, and they charged at the man and started kicking him.

Now, Joey didn't like to see anyone kicked while they were down (especially literally), and Marik thought it unfair to pose two against one, so the two jumped into action.

"That's enough!" Joey shouted as he shoved the men away. "He's learned his lesson by now, don't ya think?"

"We'll get him out of here," Marik said as he helped the guy up.

The man, meanwhile, kept chuckling to himself, convinced he was the height of comedy, Serenity supposed. At first, his hair reminded her of the Black Magician King, but he was so out of it that she couldn't see any resemblance between the two at all. The men from the hut hesitated but eventually let them go. The man leaned on Marik all the way to a bench, with the other three not far behind.

"Are you okay?" Joey asked the man as Marik eased him down onto the seat. He scanned the other's body for signs of serious injury.

"'m fine," he said with a casual wave. "And I'll be all the better 's soon's I get those coins together for Halpert." He stood to leave, swayed on his feet, and clutched the end of the table.

"Maybe you ought to stay put until you can stand," Bakura suggested. He was halfway between unimpressed and amused by this guy. "Who are you, anyway?"

The man thought for a bit. "I don't remember," he said resolutely. "A'though people call me Yami now."

"Well, do you at least know where you live? We could help take you there," Marik said.

Yami looked around, as though realizing where he was for the first time that encounter. "I live nowhere," he replied finally. "I've been traveling the Betwixt ever since...for some time now."

Serenity felt something stir in her, though by then even she could admit it was a pattern. Before she could even voice the feeling, Joey cut her off. "Group meeting," he whispered sharply to the companions. They stepped away from Yami, who didn't seem to mind or even notice.

"What d'ya make of this guy?" Joey asked quietly.

"He's off," Bakura supplied immediately, "and that's not just the ale I’m talking."

"He seems like he needs help," Marik countered, to which Serenity nodded. The two exchanged a small smile.

"Yeah," Joey said slowly. "I think you're both right, that's the problem. But we can't just..." His voice trailed off into a sigh. He swallowed back his hesitation, knowing he'd just feel guilty later if he didn't invite Yami to travel with them. "Hey, man, why don't you come with us? We can help you get through the Betwixt, at least."

"No, that's okay."

Joey blinked; well, that was a first. "No, I think you should. At least until you sober up."

"Or I could stay here and do the same." Yami shrugged.

Joey's face flushed at the prospect of practically begging this foolish man to accompany them when earlier he had wanted only to be rid of the other two. He ignored the snickers behind him and cleared his throat. "If you don't get in the wagon now," Joey began with a tone that reminded himself of Solomon, "I will go get those men from the tavern to finish what they started earlier."

Yami paled, and Joey smirked at the reaction. "Fine, fine, I'm going." He threw up his hands and marched over to the parking lot.

"Does he even know which one's ours?" Marik asked.

Joey sighed. "Probably not." He picked up his food (which was now cold) from the bench and trotted over to direct Yami to the wagon. The others piled in after them, with Serenity up front this time. (Joey wanted Yami to sleep off whatever he was under the influence of, Bakura refused to be parted from his loot, and Marik was more fascinated by the latest addition to their team than he was by the monotonous fields of the Betwixt.)

And just like that, Joey thought to himself as he untied the Urodelas, the quest of two turned into an adventure of five.


	8. Part II. If I Only Had, Chapter 4

Bakura didn't see the big deal – the dark was nothing to be afraid of. In fact, for his "hobby," it was often a friend. So Joey's declaration that they'd have to stop for the night seemed only like wasted time. He'd even almost offered to drive the wagon but didn't want it to become an expectation. So, stopped they did, on the vestiges of some small unaligned town.

Marik was predictably intrigued by everything that moved, and Serenity found the town cute. Yami had sobered up enough to be decent, if a bit boring. Gone were his jovial gait and sense of humor, replaced by an introspective and solemn attitude that made him significantly less fun. At least Joey, the group's _de facto_ leader (well, more like shepherd) kept things interesting.

For example, Bakura noted, the blond was talking quickly and quietly with one of the townsfolk. Joey had gone to ask for directions to a general store, but this conversation was far more grave than simple instructions. Curious, he sauntered over to the pair.

"– by the woods," the young woman was saying. "I-its too dangerous."

"Well, are there any campsites we _can_ use?" Joey replied.

The woman pursed her lips. "You'd be best off in the next town, but riding this time of night is just asking for trouble."

"And what's wrong with staying here, exactly?" Bakura asked. The two conversationalists jumped, and the woman used the momentary distraction to escape, scampering off toward a cabin down the way. "What was that all about?"

Joey shook his head. "She said the town's in some trouble. Folks have gone missing overnight lately."

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "That's more than 'some trouble.'"

Joey was silent. "Let's not tell the others for now. I don't know what to do just yet, and there's no use freaking them out."

It was, again, obvious to Bakura what they should do, but he simply shrugged and agreed. If the time came, he could always break off from the group. No need getting snatched for a few friendly and horribly naïve faces.

* * *

  
The group had unofficially decided to reconvene for dinner. The sun was just beginning to set, but already the townspeople were disappearing into their homes for the night. Bakura looked at the others; if they thought something was strange, they didn't show it. He shook his head at their obliviousness, catching Joey's attention from the other side of their commandeered benches. The blond narrowed his eyes in warning, and that was that.

"There!" Yami said, dusting off his hands on his thick pants. In front of him, a bonfire started to grow and crackle. They were all drawn by the light and warmth and sat around the fire in comfortable silence, munching away on the mealy dishes Joey had bought for them.

"Anyone remember to get something stiff to drink?" Yami asked as he set his bowl down beside him.

"No," Joey said sternly. "You've probably drunk a week's worth already. You're cut off."

Yami sighed. "Fine, fine. But can we _do_ something? All this silence is eating at me."

"Why don't we tell stories?" Serenity suggested. "It'd be a waste of a bonfire not to."

"Sure," Bakura agreed. "Why don't you start? Why do you two want to cross the Betwixt so badly?" He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

"Oh, um..." She glanced at Joey, who shrugged. "Well, we're on a quest to save the Black Magician King. He's sick, you see, and we have to get the other three Sorcerers to help."

"Ah, the Kingdom of Black," Yami said. "That explains the robes." He nodded to Joey's Acolyte uniform. "Though that doesn't explain why you three are embarking on this quest."

"You mean us two," Joey corrected. "Serenity and I are on the quest. We picked up Marik along the way, like you guys."

"What made you tag along?" Bakura asked the ex-Golem.

"She freed me," and Marik nodded to Serenity. "Also, I wanted to see the world, and they were already traveling to new places."

"A Golem, eh?" Yami said, stroking his chin. "That's powerful dark magic."

Marik nodded eagerly. "My former master was a strong mage. He helped many in our town."

"And then abandoned you," Joey mumbled under his breath. Marik didn't respond, but Serenity and Yami winced. Even Bakura side-eyed Marik with newfound sympathy. "Doesn't matter," Joey said quickly, "you're with us now."

"It's okay, Marik, I'd... I'd know a thing or two about abandonment." Yami closed his eyes and sighed, then continued. "Shameful as it is to admit it now, I was a Sentry some time ago."

"Wow!" Joey said. "A real life Sentry? That's so –!"

"I assure you that it is _not_."

Joey looked shocked, then crestfallen.

"Wait, what's a Sentry?" Serenity asked.

"They're only the most notorious law enforcement band in the Betwixt!" Joey said, perking back up. "See, the towns and villages in the Betwixt are unaligned, meaning that none of the Sorcerers claim them – or protect them. The Sentry rose up to help protect the Betwixt from invaders, criminals, you name it."

Bakura was unimpressed. He folded his arms and turned to look back at the town. The people there were terrified of their friends and families disappearing – and the Sentry was nowhere to be found, as usual.

"That does sound cool!" Serenity said.

"Please, don't," Yami insisted. He held up a hand. "I quit being a Sentry after...after they stopped being what they were about."

This regained Bakura's attention. A Sentry on the precipice of admitting fault? _This_ he had to see.

"They started out as a noble band, which is what drew me in to begin with. But after a while, they started to lose their way."

"What do you mean?" Joey asked. "What happened?"

"Well, they...ugh, I need a drink." Yami looked down at the ground and massaged his temples.

"He means they turned into criminals themselves," Bakura spat, and everyone turned to him. "They were no better than the people they locked up. Worse, they started selling their services to the highest bidders." He huffed. "Nothing more than a gang of mercenaries hopped up on self-righteous authority."

Yami's lips pressed together; he couldn't deny the truth. "That's why I left," he said quietly. "Anyway, what do you do?" His tone had a bit more bite than he probably intended, but Bakura indulged him anyway.

"I'm a woodsman, I do seasonal work." He grinned. "And in between jobs, I earn my keep with some _honest_ thieving. More than what you can say, I'm sure."

Again, Yami looked as though he wanted to say something but was conflicted. The others waited for him to speak, but eventually he sighed and dropped his gaze to the fire in silence. 

Bakura scowled; it was no fun if your opponent wouldn't fight back, so he decided to change the subject. "You think the King will reward us for saving him?"

"I never thought about it," Serenity said. "Especially since it was kind of my fault he's sick to begin with." At her companions' questioning expressions, she continued, "I'm...actually from another world. I was very sick when I was brought here somehow, and the King must have caught it from me. So I vowed to help him." She scratched her cheek. "It's nothing, really. I owe it to him."

There was something in the girl's tone that resonated with each of them. Here she was, this young, innocent thing from some foreign land (was it really another world?) dedicating herself to saving a King she owed no loyalty to. The least they could do was help her.

"Reward or not, I'll help," Marik declared. "You saved me, so it's the least I could do."

Serenity waved her hands. "N-no, it's okay. Besides, you saved yourself –"

"I'll help, too," Yami said. "I can start to wash away my sins and those of my former comrades with this noble deed."

"Have at it, man," Joey said with wide smile.

Marik and Yami turned expectantly to Bakura, who chewed his lip in thought before throwing caution to the wind. "To hell with it," he said, standing up. "I'm sure I could use a Sorcerer's good favor for profit. I'm in."

The rest of the group let out a cheer, and then laughed at their own enthusiasm.

Their merriment was cut short by a shrill scream from the other side of town. Without thinking, Bakura took off toward the sound to see what was going on, already fearing the worst with his knowledge of the town's predicament. He briefly registered that the others had jumped up to follow him (that was a first), and together they ran to the town's forest border.

A lonely cabin sat there with its front door bashed in. A woman was crumpled on the ground in front of the cabin, sobbing, and there were drag marks leading out of the house. Bakura traced the marks toward the forest and saw rustling in the foliage.

"Stay and help her," he told Serenity. "You," and he pointed to Yami, who happened to be the closest to him, "come with me."

The pair dove into the forest where Bakura had seen the rustling. On the other side of the dense line of bushes was a small clearing, and in the center of it were two figures. One was a boy; the other was an inhuman creature with its arm wrapped around the boy's neck so it could continue dragging him away. At the intrusion, both boy and creature stopped and looked up.

"Unhand him!" Yami shouted. "Now!"

The creature hissed and proceeded to drag the boy deeper into the woods. The boy squirmed and gasped, unable to make a single utterance with how tight the thing was squeezing his throat.

Bakura unsheathed a dagger and lunged after the creature. He slashed at its arm, forcing the thing to release the boy with a howl. Weirdly, though, instead of slicing flesh like he expected, the dagger sank into what felt like sludge. When he pried the blade back, he was surprised to see nothing staining the silver, not even blood.

The creature got over the temporary pain and was angry now. It started lashing out wildly, and Bakura had no problem dodging and deflecting the attacks. Finally, he drove the dagger into the thing's chest, and before he could wonder whether it had a heart that could be pierced as such, the creature went limp and collapsed to the ground.

Black tendrils fell from its body, as though unraveling, and vanished in wisps of dark smoke. When it was gone, the only trace of it was a faint impression in the grass where the scuffle had happened.

"It...it just vanished," Yami said, clearly in awe. He was cradling the boy, who was shivering and watching the spot where the creature was just moments ago with wide eyes.

"I noticed," Bakura replied, though for once he hadn't meant to be sardonic. "What was that thing?"

"A Shadow Ghoul. I haven't seen one of those since the early days of the Sentry."

The three made their way back to the cabin, where Marik and Joey were standing guard outside the front door. When they saw the group, they visibly relaxed.

"We didn't know what to think," Marik said when they were close enough.

"Is he okay?" Joey asked, nodding to the boy.

"Just in shock," Yami said. He put his hands on the boy's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "You're okay now, you understand? You're home, safe and sound."

The boy hesitated, then nodded. Then, the door burst open, and the woman from earlier rushed to scoop the boy up in her arms. "Oh, Lyle, you're okay!" She turned to Bakura and Yami tearfully and mouthed a "thank you" before ushering the boy inside. "Everyone will know of your act of heroism," she said behind her. "Please stay with us tonight. We haven't much room, but it's warm."

* * *

  
Once the travelers were settled in the front room, Lyle's mother, Luria, bade them a good night and trudged back to bed. When she was out of earshot, Yami turned to the group.

"This town is safe for now, but that Shadow Ghoul could not have been working alone."

"Shadow Ghoul? Is that what took the boy?" Serenity asked.

Yami nodded. "They're nasty creatures summoned by only the worst kind of magic. They feed off of life energy and have a particular taste for humans." Serenity shuddered.

"If it was summoned like you say, then there must be a mage somewhere around here," Joey pointed out. "And a powerful one at that."

"I wonder..." Marik said, tapping his chin. "Small children kept disappearing in my town, as well, until everyone decided to move. I wonder if it was the same Shadow Ghoul and it moved further west because it needed to feed."

"Not likely," Bakura said, "the town has been dealing with this for a while now."

"Wait, how do you know that?" Yami asked, arching an eyebrow.

Bakura exchanged a look with Joey. "He, uh, overheard a villager warning us not to camp here," Joey replied. "I made him promise not to say anything, I didn't want to scare you guys over nothing."

"Well, it wasn't nothing," Yami grumbled.

"But there's a bigger problem here," Serenity interrupted. "If there was a Shadow Ghoul behind the disappearances in Marik's town, then it couldn't be the same one that's been here the whole time. That means there are more than one. Who knows how many?"

They went silent. Serenity was right – someone had summoned these Ghouls and were letting them run amok, and they didn't even know how many there were or where they'd strike next.

"Well, we're not gonna solve the mystery in a night," Joey said. "Let's get some sleep. We're already on one quest, and we need to be well rested for it."


	9. Part III. The Oracle's Court: Chapter 1

The travelers awoke to cheering and music just outside the cabin door. They leapt up and dashed to the windows to see what was happening. A crowd of the townsfolk had gathered, including a small band of musicians playing lyres and reeds. A few of them even worked together to carry a large and admittedly decent drawing of Bakura, at which Marik and Yami laughed.

Luria stepped out from the crowd with an older man wearing an ornate cap and tunic. "Good morning, hero and friends!" she called through the window. "Our governor has come to greet you and thank you."

The five companions rushed to get dressed so they could meet this governor and join the festivities.

"We thank you for your courageous deed," Governor Mehmet said. "We don't have much, but anything you ask of us here and now we will try to accommodate."

"How about some food?" Bakura asked immediately.

"Wonderful!" Mehmet snapped his fingers a couple of times, and Lyle and some other kids tugged at them toward the town center. They were seated outside under a large canopy and treated to a full breakfast. Mehmet sat with them, content to watch them eat and answer questions (mostly from Serenity) about each dish. The other townsfolk danced and gathered around them, delighting in listening to Bakura and Yami recount their harrowing tale. Marik noticed that with each retelling, the ghoul got larger and the number of rescued children increased.

"What brings you through town, anyway?" Mehmet asked.

"We're on our way to the Western Fiefdom," Joey replied. "We have...an appointment with the Sorcerer there."

Mehmet gaped at them "It's only fitting that a hero such as him," and he inclined his head toward Bakura, "would consort with the most powerful mages in the land."

Joey held back a laugh at Mehmet's open admiration of the so-called hero and used it to his advantage. "Yes, it's...something. Unfortunately, we, um, underestimated how much space we'd need in our carriage. We could sure use an escort to help us carry our stores."

Mehmet clapped. "Not to worry! I'll arrange for an additional carriage to help transport you to the Fiefdom. We'll leave as soon as you're ready."

* * *

A day and a half later, Marik was the first to notice the Fiefdom (it was ironic, even he thought so). Bakura had been too busy soaking up the adoration from the townsfolk traveling with them, and they too busy lavishing him with it, so when he gasped upon seeing the tan pillars of a large building on a hill, everyone else turned to look at what he saw.

"Ah, yes," Mehmet said, "that's the Delphine. The Oracle and her court rule from within. Since we're close enough to see it, we must be within her domain."

Marik hadn't noticed a significant difference in their surroundings, so he took the old man's word for it. Soon enough, though, the dirt underway became shiftier, resembling more tightly packed sand than roadway. The trees that were once abundant in the Betwixt grew thinner and lower to the ground, and the underbrush waned until there were only occasional tufts of grass. Once the transition from field to safari was complete, the carriage approached a wooden wall with a single door halfway open. A pair of robed figures stepped into the middle of the road, and one of them held up their hand to order the carriage to stop. The other came up to the side.

"Have you an appointment with the Western Fief?" the approaching figure asked, revealing itself to be a woman.

"We come only to deliver these heroes to the Lady," Mehmet said, gesturing toward Marik and Bakura. "_T__hey_ have business with the Fief."

"And what business would that be?" she asked, turning to stare at them directly.

Marik didn't know how to respond, so he let Bakura handle it. "We are on a quest on behalf of the Black Magician King. If you check with my servants in the wagon behind us, you will see our proof for yourself." The cloaked woman nodded and went to check, and Bakura snickered to himself. Moments later, the woman returned and signaled to her companion to let the caravan through.

Once they were through the gate, Mehmet directed the carriage to a small parking area. The group climbed out and joined with Joey and the others. "This is as far as we can take you," Mehmet said. "We'll rest up here before making the journey back. Best of luck, brave hero and friends."

"Thank you," the companions chorused, and Mehmet and the others departed.

Once they were gone, Joey smacked Bakura's arm. "Your _servants_? Really?"

"What? It was more believable," he replied with a smirk.

"Anyway, let's head for the Delphine," Joey continued. "The sooner we get the second item, the sooner we can head to the next domain."

"So quick to leave?" Marik asked, a bit disappointed.

"Yeah, can't we stick around for a bit and check this place out?" Bakura asked, already looking around.

It wasn't until he caught the consternated look on Joey's face, like he was concentrating on not saying the wrong thing, that Marik realized how uncouth it was to ask for more time. The Black Magician King was suffering, and this ragtag group was his only hope. They shouldn't be wasting time, no matter how fascinating or new their destinations were.

That Joey didn't yell at or scold them made Marik respect him more. "We're on a time crunch, remember?" was all he said as calmly as he dared. He could have just as easily encouraged the two would-be tourists to break off from the group and do as they pleased, since none of them were particularly bound to each other by more than word. But maybe their impromptu pledges that night in the town were enough for the blond – so they'd be enough for him.

"You're right," Marik said. "Besides, with that reward, I'm sure we can visit all the domains as much as we want," he directed to Bakura to placate him a little. It seemed to work, and the group was on its way to the Delphine, passing narrow roads and clay houses and artisan carts along the way. At last, they saw large farm plots stretched out from the foot of the hill that the Delphine was on with various people in white tilling the land. In the middle of the fields was a path that led up a steep set of stairs toward the Delphine, and Marik gulped at the prospect of climbing them all.

Clearly, he wasn't the only one. "They don't have another way up?" Joey asked, dismayed.

A few breathless minutes later, the group made it to the top of the stairs and were greeted by yet another pair of robed figures. "Please don't tell us we have to go back down," Bakura groaned.

One of the figures, a tall man with a bald head except for a single braid at the back, stepped forward. "We were told of your arrival by our guard," the man said. "Right this way." And he turned to lead them through the archway.

The Delphine was a remarkable structure. It had no walls or doors, just a series of pillars occasionally broken up by archways leading to other rooms. The ceiling was supported only by these pillars and had a beautiful mosaic painted on it. Marik wondered how the Oracle could stay in such an open building. Wasn't she vulnerable to the elements, if not would-be threats? Or maybe there were some kind of defensive measures guests weren't aware of.

The man led the group through another archway at the end of the hallway and into a courtyard lined with bushes with plump gold flowers. Marik wanted to stay and inspect them, wondering if they were naturally that color or had been dyed or painted that way, but the man continued walking.

"The Oracle prophesied your arrival," he said over his shoulder, "though she was unsure of which companions would agree to come. It is reassuring that you are _all _here."

Marik exchanged a look with the rest of the group, imagining them without one or more of the others there. It also dawned on him that this Oracle didn't foresee anyone else joining their group, meaning this was it. He smiled to himself; this was a good group. (Besides, the wagon was getting cramped.)

"If the Oracle saw us coming, then why did we have to check in at the gate?" Yami asked.

"In addition to not sharing her visions with those outside the Delphine, the Oracle also takes extra precaution in confirming what she sees. If you didn't have the Black Magician King's artifact with you, you would not have been let in."

Marik's eyes widened as he wondered how much paranoia would lead a magic-wielder to doubt their own powers? His former master was confident in all that he could do, even, apparently, to imitate life. Marik had only seen this much fear and anxiety in the farmers just before they feverishly began hanging up bells to scare away what they thought were the grimgos.

"Since you seem to know who we are, what's your name?" Serenity asked.

"I am Odion," he returned with a smile to the girl.

"And what's your relation to the Oracle?" Yami asked.

"I am Lady Ishizu's Chief of the Guard. I help protect her and her advisor, as well as the rest of the Fiefdom."

"Important work," and Yami nodded gravely, most likely remembering his past life.

Odion stood aside and beckoned them into a room. Although this one was also wall-less, it had golden and purple banners alternating between the pillars, with golden drapes running along the top. They blocked out the natural light, making the room significantly cooler than the rest of the Delphine. Torches hung from the pillars themselves, causing the shadows to dance with the flames. There was a long, ornate table in the center of the room, at the head of which sat a woman on a raised platform. She was veiled in white so that they could only see her eyes and arms, and she watched them approach silently. Just behind her right shoulder stood a boy around Joey's age. He was much less modestly dressed, with only his ash blond hair covering his shoulders, though the intensity of his gaze matched the Oracle's. But this wasn't what caught Marik's attention.

Marik had never been particularly bothered by his appearance before. When he was a Golem, all that mattered was abiding by his contract – performing the job for which he was created, completing the tasks his master assigned him, that sort of thing. But he was unbearably reminded of it now, staring at what could be his reflection. That the Oracle and this...boy didn't seem particularly bothered was even more unsettling.

"Welcome to my domain, travelers," the Lady said, her voice serene and sure. "I know you have traveled far to see me, so please, be seated."

The five companions did as told, and once they were all sitting, the boy behind Lady Ishizu sat, as well, at her right hand.

The Lady unveiled her face and spoke. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ishizu, Oracle of the Western Fiefdom. This is my chief advisor Malik."

Marik felt his friends' eyes slide to him. So even their names were similar? How bizarre.

"Should we introduce ourselves, or...?" Joey asked, looking to each of the others.

"If it pleases you,” she said with a coy smile.

"Well, I'm Joey, an Acolyte of the Kingdom of Black."

"And I'm Serenity! An Otherworlder, apparently."

"I am Yami, a nomad of the Betwixt."

"Bakura, woodsman with the Farodin Company."

"And I'm –" Marik began, but he was interrupted.

"You used to be a Golem," Malik said.

It wasn't a question, but he still nodded. "My name is Marik."

"By chance, do you know of the mage Karan?"

Marik's eyes widened. "Of course, he was my master." How did this boy know Karan?

Malik and Ishizu exchanged an amused look. "Not long ago, Karan visited the Delphine to study with our arcane scholars," Lady Ishizu explained. "He...took a liking to Malik."

The ex-Golem was taken aback. He never knew that Karan had visited other lands, let alone any of the four domains, just that he had studied several schools of the arcane to develop his style. He certainly never knew of the existence of a boy who very likely inspired his own creation. He didn't know how to feel.

"In any case, you're liberated now," Malik said, pointing to the remainder of the contract scrawled across Marik's forehead, “which is no easy feat. Congratulations."

Luckily, Lady Ishizu spared Marik the need to respond (for he had no idea what he'd say). "Well, now that we're all familiar with one another, let's discuss the matter of why you're here. I saw that a shroud has befallen the Kingdom of Black, but I do not know the details."

"The King is suffering from an illness that no natural treatment can cure," Joey said, repeating the words Solomon told him to say. "We're seeking to gather the Sorcerers' artifacts to summon each of you to cure the King. We already have the Pendant." And he retrieved the King's artifact from its sack and held it up for all at the table to see. This was Marik's first time seeing it, and by the look on Bakura's face, he wasn't alone. It glittered in the firelight, almost inviting him to touch it.

Lady Ishizu was the only one unphased. "Very well," she said. "I see that your cause is a noble one, but I must ask a favor in return. Think of it as a test of your mettle."

"What is it?" Yami asked cautiously.

"Someone must investigate one of the lands in my domain, called the Aviary. They recently sent a summons request asking for help and I haven't been able to spare any guards to investigate."

She nodded to Malik, and he unfurled a map on the table that was large enough for the whole group to see. It outlined the entire domain, and he pointed to the westernmost point, a mountainous area at the edge of the domain's territory. "This is where the Aviary is."

"All right, we'll do it," Joey said.

"Good," Lady Ishizu replied. "Meet with the Aviary's leader and ask her about the meaning of her request. Report back to me when you've discovered what happened. Then, I will give you the Necklace." She gestured to the golden circlet around her throat, which gleamed as she did so.

"Come on, team," Joey said. "We have our orders."


	10. Part III. The Oracle's Court: Chapter 2

  
The trip to Aviary was, thankfully, quick and smooth. The village was nestled in a valley, and the mountains around it reached so high into the skies that the peaks disappeared in a curtain of clouds. Joey couldn't help but crane his neck to gape at the massive peaks. The Aviary itself was half-shrouded in mist so that despite the bright and clear day, shadows still swept over the towers of the village. Dark figures constantly swooped through the air, often vanishing into a tower or gliding down to the ground, and as the Oracle's royal carriage approached the Aviary, Joey could tell that the figures were at least humanoid.

"The Aviary," the driver announced once they were outside the gates of said village. The companions climbed out of the carriage and stood in a wide arc, taking in their new surroundings. "I shall wait here until you return," said the driver.

"So, who do we have to talk to again?" Bakura asked for what had to be the hundredth time. 

"Lady Ishizu said we had to meet with Mai, the Aviary's governess," Serenity said, finger on her chin in recollection. "She's the one who requested the investigation."

"I wonder why the Aviary allied with the Fiefdom," Yami said. "They're much farther than the other towns, and they look...different."

Joey could see what he meant. As they neared the gate, he could see the flying figures in much more detail. They were all shaped like women but had large, shimmering green wings and talons for hands. Joey wondered if they were more bird than woman as he watched them perch atop any branch or ledge they could find before diving into the air again. 

"Never thought I'd see a Harpy," Bakura said, looking around curiously, "let alone a village full of them."

As they approached the first of many towers, one of the Harpies leapt down from an unseen spire and landed before them. She had short, shoulder-length brown hair and deep blue eyes that regarded the group cautiously. "Greetings, travelers. What is your business here?" she asked.

Joey stepped forward a bit. "Lady Ishizu sent us to respond to your investigation request." 

The Harpy nodded. "Then you'll be looking for the governess. I'll take you to her."

Joey exchanged a smile with his companions. This Harpy was unexpectedly helpful, and the sooner they met with this Mai the sooner they could be on their way to the Delphine and, finally, toward the other two domains. The brunette crouched before zooming into the air, kicking up dust as she flew. She arced back down toward the group and hovered just over Joey's head, holding out a hand toward him. Four other Harpies swooped down, circling the group in the air. Joey swallowed and thought up a few incapacitating charms in case the Harpies decided to attack.

"Take my hand," the brunette said with a hint of exasperation. "We'll fly you up to the Aerie." Joey hesitated before reaching out to take her hand, and the other Harpies grinned, laughing silently at his anxiety.

The moment he touched her taloned hand, Joey was airborne. He felt his stomach drop as she lurched higher into the sky, seeming not to care about the comfort or even safety of her passenger. He opened his mouth to shout a warning or threat (or just to shout, the experience was _terrifying_), but they slowed at the top of the tower they had just stood at. There was a wide window with one panel angled outward so that the Harpies could fly inside easily. 

As soon as the Harpy released him, Joey bent over, hands on his knees, to catch his breath. He didn't even care how he appeared to the others as they landed behind him (although he did take comfort in seeing them wear similarly haggard expressions). When he stood up fully again, he looked around the room they were in. The walls were the same dark grey stone used on the tower's exterior, and the only light came from natural sources outside through the window they had just flown in from and a skylight above a veritable throne. And sitting on that throne was another Harpy, though she wore a dark metal breastplate that left little to the imagination. She stood and sauntered over to them, making her long blonde hair wave and bounce.

"Governess, these travelers were looking for you," said the brunette who carried Joey up. "They're here on Lady Ishizu's behalf."

"Thank you, Téa," the governess said. She put her hands on her hips and eyed Joey. "This is who the Oracle sent to answer my request?" She rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed. "I guess I'll have to make do." She returned to her throne and rested her head on one hand while beckoning the group to come forward with the other.

"Right," Joey began, "we're here because --"

"Did the Oracle explain to you what I wrote in my letter?" Mai cut across him. She wasn't even looking in his direction, but rather in Serenity's.

"Oh, um, n-no, she didn't," Serenity replied after a moment's hesitation.

"Figures. Well, as I said to her, the Aviary suffered an attack a few nights ago. My guards fended off the assailant, but only just. Our protection charm was damaged in the fight, among other things."

"Your protection charm?" Marik asked. "Then how have you --?"

"Without our protection charm, we've had to increase security at the most vulnerable points in the Aviary," Mai interrupted. Again, she only addressed Serenity. "Unfortunately, that's not the only trouble. One of our guards was injured in the attack, although we don't know the extent of her injuries. She's been unconscious since the fateful night."

Serenity's eyes widened. "Oh no! May we see her?"

Mai nodded. "Of course."

The governess stood and led the group back toward the window, and Joey gulped. He wasn't relishing another haphazard flight, but if this was what it took to complete Lady Ishizu's task, then he didn't really have a choice, did he? So, once again he grasped Téa's hands and grit his teeth as they dropped from the window. This time, he couldn't hold back a short yell as they fell to the ground, only for Téa's wings to yank them upward again. He chanced a glance ahead of them, if only to avoid looking at the ground some more, and glared at the care with which Mai was cradling Serenity. 

They landed in the center of the village in front of a round, low building made of the same dark stone. Mai led them inside, with Serenity and Téa close behind and the other Harpies wandering off to other parts of the village. Joey hung back so that he was huddled with the men in their group. "You guys getting a weird vibe from this place?" he asked.

"Like they're all waiting for us to let our guard down so they can devour our flesh?" Bakura asked. "Yes, definitely."

Joey wouldn't have put it that way, _per se_, but at least he wasn't the only one feeling out of place at the Aviary.

"No wonder Lady Ishizu didn't want to come herself," Yami said. "Although Serenity seems to be enjoying herself." He nodded, and the four looked ahead to see Serenity and Mai chatting amicably, joined in occasionally by Téa. 

"Maybe they've got something against Acolytes, woodsmen, ex-Sentries, and former Golems," Joey said.

"Sure," Bakura agreed wryly, "that _must _be it."

The round building was small, with only a few rooms within. The room that the unconscious Harpy occupied was all the way at the end. Indeed, she lay on a long bed, her arms crossed and wings loosely draped over her shoulders. Mai walked to the head of the bed and frowned at the Harpy. Serenity bent down to inspect her more carefully. "She's breathing normally," Serenity said, "or, I assume she is." She glanced to Mai, who nodded. "And she _looks _normal." She bit her bottom lip in concentration.

"What's that on her arm?" Marik asked, pointing to a slightly discolored patch on the Harpy's upper arm. 

Serenity leaned over to inspect it. "It's...a bruise?" She looked further up the arm, then the chest and neck. "There's another one around her throat," she said, dismayed.

"Is it large enough to have been made by someone's arm?" Bakura asked. Serenity nodded. "It could have been another Shadow Ghoul. Remember?" he said to Yami.

"That makes sense," Serenity said, and she turned to Mai. "She might be unconscious because her life force was drained. Do you have anything that can cure that? A potion or...something?"

Mai shook her head. "We'll have to request supplies from the Delphine. I'll get started right away." She turned to leave, but Joey held up a hand.

"Wait!" he said excitedly. "I think I have a charm that can help. Let me just --" He stepped toward the Harpy, but Téa crouched defensively between him and the bed, and Mai threw out a winged arm to stop him. 

"Stay away from her," Mai commanded in a low tone, her amethyst eyes narrowed to slits.

Joey flinched back and held up his hands. "I was just gonna use a healing enchantment on her," he explained carefully. "It'll help her get her energy back. Right, Serenity?" And he gave the girl a significant look.

"O-oh, right," Serenity said. "Joey is a very talented Acolyte from the Kingdom of Black."

Mai slowly lowered her arm, and Joey could see behind it that Téa stood up again. "Fine," she said, "but make one false move and you'll regret it." And she flexed her talons.

Joey nodded and gingerly approached the unconscious Harpy. He recalled the healing charm Solomon drilled into him early on in his lessons. (With Mai a breath away from tearing him to shreds, he couldn't afford to forget a step or word now.) He gently brushed her violet bangs away and placed a hand on her forehead and closed his eyes, doing his best to ignore the tense atmosphere. He muttered the magic words and felt warmth seep out of him and into the body on the bed through his hand. A chill began to set inside of him, but he ignored it until he completed the chant.

Finally, Joey released the Harpy and stepped back. He watched breathlessly as the flying woman inhaled sharply and sat bolt upright. She heaved a few more breaths, causing her bangs to float up and down, and looked around. Her eyes widened when she saw the group of travelers but she smiled when she spotted Téa. The two embraced, and Mai visibly relaxed.

"Oh, good," Joey said, and he stumbled back a step before clutching at the wall to keep from falling.

"Joey!" Serenity rushed to grab his elbow and haul him back on his feet. "What's wrong?"

"Magic demands a price," he said with a wan smile. "I...I had to give her some of my life energy, but don't worry, it'll recharge. I'll recover soon enough."

Serenity worried anyway, and by she wasn't the only one. Yami grabbed Joey's other arm and helped him back toward the door where the rest of their group stood. "You've got to be more careful," he chided.

"Hold on," Mai called. Joey tensed and, with his friends' help, turned to face the governess. She put a hand on her hip and regarded him coolly. "You saved one of us at the expense of your own well-being."

Joey wanted to respond with the assertion that they would have done the same for him, but he wasn't quite sure about that. Instead, he said, "It was the right thing to do. It was nothing."

"No, it wasn't nothing. You have my gratitude and my respect." She inclined her head reverently.

"And mine!" called the now-healed Harpy. She hopped out of the bed and walked over to lightly place a hand on Joey's shoulder. He nodded to her, understanding that the motion was some important gesture for her. "Thank you."

"Téa, take Ceres back to the Aerie and get her settled in," Mai directed. She turned back to the travelers and said, "Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you the broken protection charm."

Mai led them out of the room and up a set of stairs spiraling against the exterior of the building. On the roof, in the center, stood a rod holding an orb that would barely fit in a hand. It was a glossy and translucent green with a symbol floating inside of it. It was perfect except for the large crack running through it, pole to pole. Mai lifted the orb off the rod and held it out to Joey. "As you can see, it was damaged in the battle. Without our charm, our village is susceptible to all kinds of magical attacks. We've been lucky thus far, but I don't know how long that will last. It must be repaired immediately."

Joey nodded and held out his hands for Mai to drop the orb into. "What happened? Who attacked you?"

Mai turned toward the mountains and pointed to a line of trees. "They came from there, a group of creatures we'd never seen before. They were black, hideous things with uncanny strength. We had the advantage of flight, of course, but one of them shot out its tongue and grabbed onto Ceres. It dragged her clear out of the sky." Mai shook her head, morose and disgusted. "We were able to defeat the creatures, but their bodies disappeared, like the ground soaked them up. Our only evidence of attack is the charm, which broke when one of them picked it up and threw it at us. If I had to guess, I'd say that group of creatures -- Shadow Ghouls, you called them? -- was only the first wave, to test our defenses. And if that's true, then whoever coordinated all this could be after the Delphine." She folded her arms. "Tell that to the Oracle, maybe she'll respond quicker this time."

Joey snorted a laugh. "Will do." He handed the charm to Marik and turned to address Yami. "Hey, have you ever seen a Shadow Ghoul whip somebody with its tongue?"

Yami shook his head. "That's a new kind of shadow creature all together."

"Oh, lovely," Bakura said. "Because Ghouls weren't bad enough."

"I'm just glad everyone's okay now," Serenity said, her shoulders relaxing.

"For now," Mai said. "I'm counting on all of you." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact! Miho (who doesn't appear in the main Yu-Gi-Oh! series) doesn't have an American/Western name, so I decided to give her one to fit in with the rest of the gang. Her name translates roughly to "beautiful grain" (_ a la_ behindthename.com) so I named her after the Greek goddess of grain and agriculture, Ceres.


	11. Part III. The Oracle's Court: Chapter 3

"I see you were successful," Lady Ishizu said in her ever-present serene tone.

Joey dropped the Aviary’s broken protection charm in Malik's hands with a derisive, "_Hmph_. Sure we were. Goes without saying the governess requests this be repaired."

"We'll take care of it immediately," the Oracle replied.

"She also gave us details of the incident," Yami added. "She said that the Aviary was assaulted by a group of shadow creatures, who injured one of their own and broke the charm. She also thinks the attack was to test their defenses so they can eventually invade the Delphine."

Malik and Lady Ishizu exchanged a worried glance. "Shadow creatures?" the boy asked. "That's impossible."

"Not necessarily," Lady Ishizu said. "Remember the surge of magical energy we felt the end of last quarter, right before the woodrot set in." The travelers turned to Bakura, and he nodded his agreement with the timeline.

"That's also around the same time His Highness fell ill," Joey said thickly. Serenity discreetly pat his back in consolation. "He was cursed," he elaborated.

Lady Ishizu's eyes widened, and it was the largest reaction the companions had seen from the Sorceress. "Cursed? That is evidence of only the most powerful magical practices." She tapped her chin in thought.

"Is it possible that it's a coincidence?" Malik asked, though he also looked worried.

"Yes, but we must be cautious anyway. There are potent forces at work here." Her blue eyes flicked up at Serenity, who started at the sudden attention. "Potent enough to call upon an Otherworlder, apparently."

A breeze rippled through the drapes, letting sunlight filter into the fire-lit room briefly, and the Oracle closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened them again, the atmosphere had lightened, and her natural quasi-smile was reaffixed to her face. "All the more reason to send you on your way. As thanks for completing your task, I'll lend you my Necklace." She removed it delicately and placed it in Malik's waiting hands.

Marik was the closest, so he hopped up to meet the other halfway and save him some of the trouble. Plus, he supposed with amusement, some of his helper-Golem tendencies lingered.

Marik's fingers closed around the Necklace, and he brushed against Malik's. The moment was instantaneous but enough to trigger something. Sparks shot out of where they had made contact, and white specks of light started snowing around them, unbothered by the strong winds that suddenly started blowing around them.

But Marik was distracted from the spectacle by the tightening of his stomach and chest. All of a sudden, he felt lightheaded and like he'd float away any second. The only thing grounding him was the mirrored confusion and pleasure in Malik's eyes.

The lights had barely faded when Marik's attention was snapped to the front of the room by the sound of Lady Ishizu's chair scraping against the ground. She had shot up out of her seat and was walking over to them, her white wrap billowing out behind her.

Marik dropped his hand and gripped the Necklace tight, bracing for some kind of reaction. He was overwhelmed by emotions that, even though most feelings were foreign to him, he recognized as not his own. The onslaught left a dry taste in his mouth and clouded his mind, and he almost longed for the clear-headed wit that had come with being a Golem.

He suppressed a flinch when Lady Ishizu lay her hands on his shoulders, half afraid of being dragged under the wave of whatever that was.

"The Quickening," she said with a grand smile, and Marik thought for a split second that she could suddenly read his mind (and Malik's snickering right after he thought that convinced him that _he_ could). He realized a second too late that she was responding to a question one of his friends had asked. "It's a rare experience, but a momentous one. It happens when two Equivalent souls find each other, forming an unbreakable bond between them, though that bond is yours to do with what you will." She sighed happily and let Marik go. "I had only heard rumors about the Quickening, I never thought I'd see it before me. And my own brother, no less!"

("Brother?" Joey muttered to the rest of the group.)

"Me and him?" Marik asked. In retrospect, he could have predicted that something was bonding him to the Oracle's advisor, though he never would have guessed something so serious and permanent sounding. No, what surprised Marik the most was that some higher power determined that he had a _soul_. Not three days prior, he was hardly more than animated rock and clay, but now this.

Marik was shaken out of his thoughts by a sudden piercing through his chest, and he winced before automatically turning to his...well, he didn't know _what_ to call him. "Is there something wrong with that?" Malik asked softly. His façade of indignation did little to hide his self-consciousness, especially when the ex-Golem could _feel_ it.

He reached out before thinking twice about it and lightly touched Malik's forearm, causing a shudder to pass through them both. "That's not what I meant," he said, quiet yet emphatic. "This...is new to me."

Malik half-smiled. "Join the club," he replied softly. Then he turned to Lady Ishizu. "May I?" he asked plaintively, half the question implied in his tone.

"Of course," she said with a regal, heavy nod.

Then Malik turned back to him, his eyes downcast self-consciously. "If you'll have me," he began, "I-I'd like to accompany you." He looked up and over to the rest of the group. "A-at least until the next town. And we'll bring an additional carriage!"

"Sure," Joey said as the others mumbled their consent as well, "if it's okay with him." And he nodded to Marik.

"I'd like that, too," Marik agreed.


	12. Part IV. Field of Poppies: Chapter 1

Joey supposed he couldn't complain; at least the Oracle had lent them another wagon. Still, it was strange to think that they had added yet another companion to their already large group, especially after they had all gotten used to each other. He supposed that night around the campfire, when the others had made their silly yet heartfelt pledges to their cause, it had simultaneously bonded them and sealed off their group for potential newcomers. That was, until the Quickening.

This thought, of course, led him to wonder what was going on in the other wagon, and just how much Serenity's innocent eyes were being subjected to at the moment. Initially, it had made sense for her to ride along with the now bonded pair – Yami had seemed too awkward with the whole deal, Bakura wouldn't have left them alone for two seconds, and Joey had to drive the Urodelas – but now he was having second thoughts. Marik and his Equivalent partner seemed so instantly...intimate in a way that Joey could not remember seeing before and certainly could not relate to.

Yami shifted in his seat beside him a little, and he glanced to the side. "You okay?" he asked.

The ex-Sentry nodded. "Just...thinking." He turned to look through the small window in the wagon. "How far until the next settlement?" he shouted through it.

"I'd have a better idea if I were out there instead," Bakura replied flippantly.

"I told you, you scare the Urodelas too much!" Joey replied.

"I know, I know. Actually, we should be arriving soon."

“Soon” turned out to be another few minutes. Joey and Yami saw the tops of a few cottages (with a banner bearing the Oracle's colors to let all who saw it know they were still in her domain) at the bottom of the hill they were descending and relayed that to Bakura so he could brace himself. The town looked pleasant enough as they approached, with people of all ages meandering the cobbled streets and the storefronts and display windows. They even waved as the carriage pulled through the town to find somewhere to park. It was odd yet comforting to be in a settlement that wasn't afraid of grimgos or of children going missing or of literal shadows. After so many days, Joey had forgotten what that was like.

Finally, they found a lot to park in. Bakura met Yami and Joey in the front of theirs to wait for the royal driver, the same one who had brought them to the Aviary, to park alongside them. Marik climbed out of the back first and held out a hand for Malik to do the same, and the other three males exchanged intrigued looks that ranged in cheeky amusement. Serenity joined them last with a wide smile on her face.

"Together again," she said.

Joey snorted a laugh. "It's only been a few hours, kid," he said, though he pulled her into a brotherly side hug. "All right, gang, here're our orders. While I hang back and take care of the Urodelas, someone's gotta find a place to stay for the night, and someone else should go look for a place to eat. Remember, we need room for six. Seven, if the driver comes with us." He glanced back at said man, who merely shrugged.

"I'll go find lodging," Bakura offered. "I bet I can haggle down the price. And I elect Serenity as my comrade."

Serenity blinked. "Me?"

"You. You'd be surprised how far a cute face can get you." Serenity blushed but nevertheless walked over to stand next to him.

"And I'll go look for food and...social lubricant," Yami said with a sly smile.

Joey frowned but he supposed it was better than nothing. "Fine, but no drinking until we get there.”

"We'll go with you, if you want," Malik said enthusiastically.

Yami gave Joey a discreet, pleading look, and Joey quickly thought of something to say to save him. "Uh, no, I actually need you two to, um, look for supplies. For the wagon." He fished around for some paper and scrawled down a few items before handing it to Malik. "This'll give you both a chance to see the town, too."

Apparently, the bait worked, and Joey inwardly sighed in relief. Armed with their assignments, the travelers dispersed, leaving Joey and the royal driver alone with the draft beasts. Joey turned around to chat with the driver and was shocked to see he had disappeared. Well, that left Joey with the beasts.

* * *

"Are you sure the lodge is full?" Serenity asked, her eyes wide with worry. "We'll take the cheapest you've got."

The lodge owner grimaced but stayed resolute. "I'm sorry, girl, we're booked. Oversold, even," she said

Serenity sighed and turned to Bakura with a watery smile. "That's okay, we'll just sleep in the wagon again. Father can have my blanket so he won't catch his death this time."

Bakura placed a hand on her shoulder consolingly. "You're very kind. Let's go." They turned to leave.

"W-wait!" the owner called. "We may have something for you."

Bakura smirked and whispered, "Just as I planned," before turning, back in character. "Oh?" he asked with just a touch of naïve hopefulness.

The owner sighed. "We're still renovating the top floor, but two of the rooms should be relatively okay for a short stay."

"Oh, thank you!" Serenity said, wringing her hands. "You are so generous. We'll take them both."

* * *

It didn't take Yami long to find a few promising pubs and eateries. This town had everything, including a thriving nightlife if the copious amounts of taverns was any indication. Although it was still a while until evening, townsfolk were already crowding the streets, friends joking and jostling each other, families carrying armfuls of wares back home, couples holding hands on their way to discreet rendezvous spots. He squinted at the rows of venues to see if any of the open locales seemed like his kind of haunt. Unfortunately, all of the pubs were closed; this granted him a moment of clarity, in which he felt a little guilty of breaking his promise to Joey to not drink.

Well, he'd at least distract himself from the urge by first completing his task and then exploring the town. He turned around and spotted a pair of women approaching him. "Excuse me," he said, and they slowed down to look at him, "but I'm not from around here. What's the best place to eat in town?"

"Oh, that's easy," the woman closest to him answered, and she nodded to a thriving spot a little way down the road from them. "The Club and Casque has it all.”

"Yeah," the other woman agreed, "they're a restaurant and club room by day, tavern by night. Tables fill quickly, though."

Yami thanked the women and headed to the Club and Casque. Despite how large it was (taking up an entire street corner and standing a few storeys high), it was bustling. Every time the front door opened, Yami could hear the talking and laughter from inside. He peeked through the large front windows and saw the typical tables and chairs in the front but a more relaxed, standing-only area in the back, and a set of wide stairs leading up to the upper floors. Shrugging, he went inside and immediately had to sidestep a trio of men who were swaying and walking at the same time, oblivious to everyone else around them.

"Walk-in or reservation?" said a girl around Serenity's age from beside the door. She was holding up a notepad and quirked her eyebrow when they met gazes.

"Uh, walk-in, I suppose."

"Okay. Just so you know, there's a thirty-minute wait for the next table."

Yami blinked. The place was crowded, but waiting half an hour? That seemed excessive, but he put his name down for a table nonetheless. "What about upstairs?" he asked, more out of curiosity than anything.

"Oh, that's the club room. Right now, the Three G's are meeting there."

"Three G's?"

"Gallagher's Games Guild. I believe they're allowing walk-ins, and you can order food up there, so if you're interested..." She shrugged in punctuation.

Yami glanced at the stairs, wondering just what kind of games this Three G's club was playing. "Why not?" he said more to himself, and he went upstairs.

* * *

"Look at this one," Malik said, pointing to yet another set of shiny trinkets in the store's display window.

"Hmm," Marik responded, pretending to look at the wares when he was really watching the pure elation on the other's face. He was suddenly filled with an intense urge to buy something, which he knew wasn't his. "Why don't you buy one of them?" he asked.

Malik sighed and turned his back to the store. "Lady Ishizu would skin me alive. She says I've already amassed a large enough collection to feed a village. Which I think was her subtle way of threatening to do just that if I bought any more jewelry." He spared one last longing look over his shoulder before walking away. Marik chuckled and fell into step beside him.

"Karan tried adorning me, but he quickly gave that up. I never saw the point of wearing the pieces, although now –" he gave Malik a sweeping look – "I'm starting to understand."

Malik blushed a little and crossed his arms, a gesture Marik was beginning to recognize as self-consciousness. "I always meant to visit Karan," he said, sounding distant. "I suppose I'd have met you sooner." He gave a small smile.

"I was different then," Marik replied, thinking back to when his existence was simple and confined. He imagined what meeting Malik during that time would have looked like, would have meant. "Why didn't you? Visit, I mean."

Malik sighed. "I couldn't leave my sister," he mumbled. "It's a wonder she let me go this far. Even though she's the one bound to the Fiefdom, it feels like I'm trapped here, too."

"But why is she bound there in the first place?"

They stopped in front of another store, though this time neither was paying attention to its merchandise. Malik gave him a critical look, like he was deciding something. Finally, he said, "The items that the Sorcerers wield are powerful. The necklace allows my sister to predict the future – hence her title – but they also tap into unseen forces to do other things, like allow them to cross distances far and wide. I only assume this is why you're on a quest to collect them all.

"But that same connection can work against them by a mage strong and capable enough. And long ago, just that kind of mage used the items to physically bind the Sorcerers' souls to the location of the items, and the items to their respective domains."

Marik's eyes widened. "Trapped, indeed. But why would the mage do this?"

"It was his parting gift," Malik replied with a humorless smile. "The mage was driven mad by the power of the items and tried to steal them, but the Sorcerers stopped him. While they were busy banishing him, he cursed them to be bound to their items and domains. And such was the cost of ridding Serendom of the Shadow Lich – or so I'm told, I was too young to witness it firsthand."

Marik wanted to ask more – what was a Shadow Lich? just how long ago had this all happened? was there a connection between the Lich and the shadow creatures roaming around now? – but Malik was distracted by the distant sound of drums.

"You hear that?" he asked (quite needlessly, how could Marik _not_ hear it?) before taking off in the direction of the sound. Marik sighed, shook his head, and followed.

The drumming was coming from a small stage down the road and around the corner from them, and as they approached, they could also hear trumpets and singing. A small crowd, mostly children, gathered at the base of the stage and watched in eager fascination as the characters danced around in bright costumes and half-masks. The two stood at the back of the crowd with the parents, enjoying both the performance and the children's delight.

Three of the dancers hopped off the stage and begin spinning and leaping through their spectators, who parted hastily to give them a path. The dancers stopped now and again to place a flower crown on someone's head or twirl someone else. As they wove through the back of the crowd, the third dancer paused in front of Marik and clapped her bangle onto his wrist. She danced away before he could thank her, so he held it up to admire its golden glow. He caught Malik ogling it, too, and he immediately shook it off and handed it to him. He felt a tingle course through him when his fingers brushed Malik's palm, and he heard the other give a nervous laugh.

"L-let's go check out the rest of the town," Malik said, and they left the area to continue exploring.

* * *

"There," Joey breathed. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand and stretched. "You two should be fine for the night, then," he said to the Urodelas. The creatures paid him no mind, more interested in their food and water.

Joey backed out of the stable he rented for the night and practically bumped into Bakura and Serenity. "Oh, you two are back quick. No luck?"

"On the contrary," Bakura said with a smirk. "This one here has a promising future in conning."

Serenity blushed. "Thanks, I guess. We have two big rooms to ourselves," she said to Joey.

The Acolyte nodded. "That is impressive. Let's go find the others, then."

The trio wandered through the town, taking in the quaint sights of leisure. It reminded Joey of the Kingdom of Black, and he grew a little homesick. He'd have to shop around for something to bring back for Tristan and Solomon.

"This is the only food place still open," Bakura said as they walked toward a restaurant called the Club and Casque.

"It's also got booze, so Yami's gotta be in there," Joey muttered. They walked inside and asked the girl standing by the door if Yami had indeed come that way.

"Oh, certainly," she replied. "He made a reservation for your party, then went upstairs to the club room to wait."

"Club room?" Serenity asked.

The other girl nodded. "The Three G's meets there every week to play games, though it's more cutthroat than you'd think." She frowned a little, seeming to remember something grisly. "Anyway, you're welcome to go up there, too."

So up they went. As they rounded the corner to the clubroom, Joey could hear shouts and calls from inside. He exchanged a glance with the others before proceeding. The club room took up almost the entirety of the second floor, with tables in neat rows in one corner, a pile of cushions in front of a fireplace in another, and a bookshelf of all kinds of trinkets in a third. There was a bar along the far wall, and while a steady stream of patrons kept the bartender busy, the majority of Three G's members stood huddled around a table in the center of the arrangement. They were all shoving each other playfully and chatting excitedly, clearly enjoying whatever was happening in the center.

The trio of travelers circled the group but couldn't see Yami or any indication that he had been in the room. Then, the Three G's members exploded into shouts, half of them congratulating one another while the other half practically tore out their hair in lament. They shuffled around the table, and in the gaps, Joey could see Yami's unmistakable tricolored hair. He jostled his way through the crowd and found Yami sitting across from a man who slumped over in his seat and examined the cards in front of him with frantic desperation.

"Another one down," Yami said, crossing his arms and smiling smugly. "Who's next?"

"Yami?" Serenity asked, having followed Joey through the group. "What's going on?"

"I've been teaching the members of the Gallagher's Games Guild how to play a game and mean it," Yami said, eliciting laughs from the club members behind him.

"He's been wiping the floor with us!" one man said.

"He's beaten us at every game!" a woman called.

"Surely not every game," Bakura said incredulously.

"They've even taken to calling me – uh, what was it again?"

"The King of Games!" the Guild members shouted in unison.

Joey snickered at Bakura's obvious resentment. "What, think you could do better?"

Bakura didn't answer, not directly at least. Instead, he marched over to the seat opposite Yami's and glared at its current occupant until the man scrambled away. He gathered the scattered cards as he sat. "All right, how do we play?"

Yami grinned and began gathering the cards near him, too. "We each take it in turns to draw a card, trying to compose a hand of a single suit. Then, we have to battle one another with those suits. Higher values win." He took the other half of the deck from Bakura and quickly and expertly shuffled the deck, drawing the attention of the club members, who packed in near the table again. "I'll let you have the first turn."

Bakura snatched a card off the top of the deck, and the game progressed quickly from there. Both combatants silently took their turns, handling their cards like old pros, while their audience cheered and hollered for whomever held their interest (which seemed to change turn to turn). Even Joey and Serenity were egging them on.

"Come on, Bakura, that was such an obvious ruse," Serenity said at one point.

"Clearly you need to be cut off, Yami, you're not seeing your cards right!" Joey taunted at another.

"This is where you've all been this whole time?" Joey heard over his shoulder. He glanced behind him and saw Marik standing there, with Malik beside.

"Oh, hey, you two," he said. "Bakura, Serenity, and I just got here. Didn't take long for Mister Hero over there to challenge Yami to a game."

"Who's winning?" Malik asked, leaning forward with interest.

"Hard to say. They're pretty evenly matched."

"Then let's make it interesting, shall we?" Malik cupped his mouth and shouted over the noise, "Free drinks all night for the winner!"

The crowd yelled in enthusiasm, and Joey laughed. Bakura and Yami looked to each other and nodded, apparently accepting the new terms of their game.

The game went on for much longer than Joey expected, but more surprising was the Guild's rapt attention. They were just as excited about the current turn as they were about the first. Joey wondered if this was because of the deadlock or just the fanaticism that drove an adult to join a club dedicated to playing games. Suddenly, the mood shifted. The Guild got quiet and watched with anticipation as Yami discarded a card and drew another. He smirked and set his hand face down, ending his turn.

Now was the moment of truth. Bakura glanced at his hand again before looking between the discard pile and the deck, weighing his options. Finally, he decided to draw a new card. Time seemed to slow down as he flipped it up to read the value and suit of his card. The Guild waited in pin-drop silence for a reaction.

Bakura hissed an expletive, and the crowd once again erupted into jaunts and jeers. He and Yami lay their hands down, the former almost complete except for the one card Bakura had drawn, the latter a perfect set. They had both drawn the most powerful values, meaning the game came down to simply finish collecting the suit. Joey was taken aback by the level of skill they'd both shown in a game neither had played before.

"You know, the jar's supposed to eat the loser's soul," Yami said. He propped his head up with one hand, as though waiting to see that very spectacle. He was talking about a large jar with seals all around it and binding ropes tying a box to it. Joey recognized some of the symbols on the seals and hoped Yami was really joking about the curse. Bakura eyed the jar suspiciously before scowling and pushing back from the table.

"A win is a win," he said, though he sounded loath to admit it. "Congratulations. Although I do expect a rematch soon."

Yami grinned. "Count on it. Now, where's that drink I was promised?"


	13. Part IV. Field of Poppies: Chapter 2

Serenity was surprised they were able to find a table large enough for all six of them to crowd around the next morning. They had the map sprawled out in the middle while they each ate their breakfasts.

"We kinda have a choice," Joey said around a mouthful of food. "We could either go to Sapphire City first to visit the Dragon Tamer or the Southern Empire and see the White Mage."

Both options sounded fantastic to Serenity. "Is the Sapphire City really made of sapphire?" she asked.

Joey shrugged. "Haven't made it a habit of visiting the Dragon Tamer," he replied, and he sounded surly about it.

"Sapphires are just really common there," Malik answered. "Although there was a lot of blue in the city when I last saw it."

That was enough to set Serenity's imagination off. To her, the choice was obvious.

"What about the Southern Empire?" Marik asked. "Anything special about it?"

Malik tapped his chin. "Well, Cloud Castle is literally in the clouds. You have to take a special craft to get inside."

Okay, so maybe the choice wasn't so clear. Now, Serenity was envisioning riding up into the clouds on their way to the castle.

"Ugh, I can't decide now," Marik said, and Serenity nodded to him, understanding where he was coming from.

"Shall we flip for it, then?" Yami asked with a smirk, already holding up a coin.

"No need," Bakura said, laying a hand down definitively. "We'll go to the City."

Joey and Yami exchanged a look. "Uh, okay," the blond said slowly. "Any particular reason why?"

Bakura shoveled another spoonful into his mouth, and it looked at first like they weren't going to get an answer. Finally, he said, "I've heard of strange happenings around the White Mage and wouldn't particularly relish his company, is all."

"Oh, yes," Yami said, pondering, "isn't his the domain with the village that vanished?" Then he smirked. "But that's just a tall tale. Don't tell me you're afraid of a children's nighttime story." And he poked Bakura in the side.

"It's not a tale," the other said sharply. "I...I heard it from a reliable source."

Yami chuckled to himself, and even Serenity thought it funny that the brash, confident, self-proclaimed thief was possibly afraid of what sounded like a cheesy campfire story. "Well, anyway, we don't have to go there first," she said. "The whole point was that we have options. Let's go to the Sapphire City!"

"You heard the lady," Joey said, and he stood to roll up the map.

Soon afterwards, they packed into their wagon. Serenity had agreed to ride in the back, figuring that one of her companions would feel guilty enough to switch with her as they approached the Sapphire City. She laughed to herself at her ingenious plan, which caught Yami's attention. He looked up from where he had been arranging some blankets they had found in the town to make the wagon more comfortable and smiled toward the Oracle's carriage.

"Cute, aren't they?" he said.

It took Serenity a moment to realize that he meant Malik and Marik. The two were conversing gravely about something, too soft to hear that far (by design, Serenity was sure). The idea of them bonded was cute, indeed, though in that moment they seemed way too serious. Serenity wondered if Marik was having second thoughts about traveling with them and almost hoped he would resist the temptation to return to the Delphine with his Equivalent. She knew it was selfish, so she made up for it by wishing for a quick conclusion to their quest so he could go back to the Fiefdom as soon as possible.

When Marik finally came over to their wagon, Serenity blushed and quickly turned to busy herself to hide the fact that she had been watching him. "Oh, there you are," she said when he came into her field of vision. "Ready to go?" And she internally crossed her fingers that he'd say yes.

Marik spared a glance at the other carriage, so Serenity did the same. Malik had already gone inside, yet he kept watching until the carriage took off back toward the Fiefdom. Then he nodded. "Let's go."

Yami's efforts weren't completely in vain. The wagon was certainly warmer, which countered the draft let in by the flap and the front window. It was also nice to sit on something softer than hard wood, and the blankets braced them for the bumps on the road.

"So why do you guys think Bakura _really_ doesn't want to go to the Southern Empire?" Serenity asked quietly to avoid being overheard. She hated to gossip, but she was so curious.

"He's probably got a bounty on his head down there," Yami said with a snicker.

Serenity laughed, too. "Or maybe he owes a debt and doesn't want to pay," she postulated. She could imagine the roguish woodsman pretending to work alongside another thief only to double cross him later. "What do you think, Marik?"

"Huh? Oh, what Yami said." And he went back to his silent brooding.

Yami and Serenity exchanged a glance. While the ex-Golem was never particularly talkative, he seemed especially withdrawn, and his companions knew why. Serenity wondered what it was about the Quickening that changed a person so completely. Could Marik have really bonded with his Equivalent that soon? Well, the ritual did have "quick" in its name.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Marik," Yami began slowly, "back at the Fiefdom, we heard that a powerful mage is behind the reappearance of all these Shadow Ghouls. And that mage would have to be quite knowledgeable about dark magic." He glanced up at Marik before looking away. "Is it...is it possible that this mage is...Karan?"

Marik's eyes widened with shock, then denial. "N-no, he wouldn't. He _couldn’t_. Yes, he has knowledge of the darker arts, but rarely tapped into them. I was the darkest thing he'd created."

Yami didn't look completely convinced, but he said, "If you're sure, then I believe you. Still, this mage must be someone intimately familiar with shadow magic."

"Yesterday, Malik told me about someone called the Shadow Lich. He's the reason the Sorcerers can't leave their domains – he cursed them for banishing him." And he explained the rest of what Malik told him.

Serenity's eyes widened. "So _that's_ why we have to collect the artifacts."

"If this Shadow Lich was able to curse the most powerful mages in Serendom, then he could absolutely be behind the return of the Ghouls," Yami said. "But why now?"

Serenity felt bile rise in her throat as something occurred to her. "It...it might have to do with me. My illness brought me here, remember? What if crossing worlds also brought back the Shadow Lich?" She shivered just thinking about having caused something so catastrophic.

Marik squeezed her shoulder consolingly. "Remember, the Ghouls started appearing well before you arrived. And if the Lich is behind that, then he was active long before you, too."

Serenity gave a brief smile. "Thank you. And anyway, feeling guilty doesn't solve the problem. How and why is the Shadow Lich back?"

And they each fell into their own thoughts, pondering the Lich and the fate of Serendom.


	14. Part IV. Field of Poppies: Chapter 3

Marik didn't have to relieve himself like the other guys did, so he joined Serenity in guarding the wagon. They watched the other three disappear across the forest line in amicable silence.

"Are you enjoying the adventure?" Serenity asked. "Was it everything you hoped for?"

Marik nodded quickly. "After seeing so much, I'm learning a lot. Mostly about myself." And he looked off in the direction they had just left.

Serenity bit her bottom lip wondering whether it was worth it to mention Malik and the Quickening. She was spared the decision by the sight of a shadow swiftly gliding over them. They both looked up and saw a dark figure circling in the sky before landing just up ahead on the road.

The thing was actually golden, its metallic hide making it appear more machine than animal. It had large wings that folded into its side and a long tail it swished back and forth lazily. Its body looked vaguely like a lion, but its face was too humanoid. It lay down on its belly, effectively barring the path, and watched them carefully.

"What is it?" Serenity murmured.

Marik shrugged. "Want to find out?"

The two nodded in agreement and approached the thing, their wagon and friends forgotten. The flying beast huffed as they neared it, making Serenity think the thing was alive after all.

"Hail, travelers," it spoke.

"H-hello," Serenity returned, giving it a half wave. "If you don't mind us asking, what exactly are you?"

It huffed again, sounding like a chuckle. "I do not mind at all," it began. "I am the Riddle Sphinx, given life by legend. I traverse the Betwixt to test the mettle of travelers."

"Are you here to test ours?" Marik asked.

"Yours and whoever ventures this path," the Sphinx replied. "Should you pass my trial, you may continue on your journey. If not," the Sphinx licked its lips, "then I will devour you both."

Marik and Serenity gulped. "May we have a moment to discuss our decision?" Marik asked, already tugging Serenity away from the beast.

The Sphinx nodded, and the pair scurried back to their wagon. Joey, Bakura, and Yami were walking out of the forest and met them there, questioning looks on their faces.

"We left for two minutes, you two couldn't have possibly gotten into trouble that quick," Yami said, his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, everything okay?" Joey asked. Then he spotted the Sphinx. "Whoa, what _is_ that thing?"

"The trouble," Marik replied. "It's a Riddle Sphinx and it won't let us pass unless we take its trial, and if we fail, it'll... eat us."

"A Riddle Sphinx, eh?" Bakura asked. "I swore it was just a campfire story."

"What should we do?" Serenity asked. "We have to continue down this path."

"Not necessarily," Yami said. "Can we double back and take another route?"

Joey unfurled the map and traced his finger along the path they were on. "We could go back and circle around, but we'd lose a lot of hours, days even. We'd also have to circle around to go to the Empire afterwards and waste even more time." He rolled it back up with a sigh. "The best way to the City is through."

They each grimaced and regarded the Sphinx, which hadn't stopped staring in their direction.

"Maybe if we just ask it what the trial is, we could gauge how ready we are to take it," Yami suggested, sounding confident in the simplicity of his idea.

"Nothin' to lose," Joey agreed, and they marched together to the Sphinx, Serenity and Marik leading them.

"Uh, h-hello again, O Sphinx," Serenity said, hoping this was the correct way to greet a legendary beast. "Before we take your trial, can we know what the trial is? It'd help is make a decision."

The Sphinx yawned. "The trial is a test of wit and wile. You must answer a riddle."

Serenity gave the thing a blank look; she could have guessed that from its name. "What kind of riddle?"

"The tricky kind. I cannot tell it to you unless you agree to my terms."

"May we each have a try, at least?" Bakura asked.

"No. You travel as one and must answer as one."

Joey growled. "This is a set up! We're supposed to just gamble with our lives without even knowing what the odds are?"

"Consider the gravity of your journey. Is it worth these stakes?" The Sphinx lay its head down on its paws, clearly having lost interest in the conversation until the travelers came to a decision.

"We must do this," Yami said softly. "For the King."

The others nodded, and Joey stepped forward a bit. "Okay," he said resolutely, "we'll answer your riddle."

The Sphinx lifted its head again and swished its tail a few times. "Very well. Here is my question. One of you is traveling with a velox, a galla, and a sack of grain. You arrive at a river that you must cross to continue your journey. You notice a rowboat anchored at the shore that is only large enough for you to cross with one item at a time. You know that if you leave the velox alone with the galla, it'll eat the bird, and if you leave the galla alone with the grain, it'll eat the sackfull. How do you get everyone across in the fewest trips possible?"

The group stood in stunned silence, each visualizing the mental puzzle. They exchanged nervous glances, none of them confident enough to speak their answer aloud.

"Take as much time as you need. Though if you try to run, I will chase you and gnaw on your bones." Serenity didn't know what was worse – the threat or how passively the Sphinx spoke it.

"Anyone got a clue?" Joey whispered (for some reason).

"Not unless gallas are capable of rowing boats," Yami said with such solemnity that it made Serenity and Bakura snicker.

Marik, meanwhile, stared at the ground in fraught concentration as his mind quickly charted out paths the traveler in the riddle could take. He thought back to his old life, of similar tasks Karan would order him to carry out and found it helpful to put himself in the shoes of the nameless traveler. How would he do this?

"I...I have an idea," he said finally, and everyone else's ears perked up. "Here, let me draw it out." He grabbed a stick from the side of the road and began doodling a diagram, complete with arrows and numbers indicating the trips and their order. "Make sense?" he asked.

The others circled around the diagram with varying expressions of understanding. "Oh, I get it!" Joey said. "Let's give it a shot."

"If Marik is wrong somehow, I just want you to know it's been a pleasure traveling with you all," Yami said.

"It certainly was interesting, at least," Bakura added.

"You've all been wonderful," Serenity said, and it was taking all of her courage not to keep her voice even.

Marik, though, wasn't anxious. In fact, he was quite pleased with himself, so sure was he that he'd figured out the riddle. He turned to the Riddle Sphinx and cleared his throat to get its attention. "We've solved your riddle," he said. "To get across the river as efficiently as possible, I would take the galla over first, come back for the grain and swap it for the galla on the other side, then swap the galla for the velox and leave it with the grain. Finally, I'd go back for the galla and bring it to the other side. That's five trips total."

The Sphinx stood, much taller than Marik and almost as wide, and huffed its chortle. "You are incorrect, traveler. The correct answer is one trip – all the traveler would have to do is go back to collect building supplies and use the boat to construct a bridge across the river. I'm going to eat you now, and I think I'll start with the little one." The Sphinx opened its maw, growling at the back of its throat and breathing hot air over the group.

Marik stepped in front of Serenity. "Hold on!" he cried. "You're not eating any of us today." He turned slightly to Bakura, though he didn't take his eyes off the creature. "How many units of wood would it take to build a rowboat barely large enough for a man and a velox?"

"W-what?" the woodsman asked, the sudden question making him pause in his retreat from the Sphinx. "About thirty units, why?"

Marik smirked. Now, as inexperienced in the world as he was, he did know a thing or two about building and measurement. From helping Karan and the town with menial tasks to smithing for hours a day, he knew that a small rowboat could never make for a great bridge. "That's not enough material," he told the Sphinx. "You're wrong, the traveler would never be able to cross the river that way."

The Sphinx closed its mouth and looked down at him for a long moment. "Congratulations," it said at last, "you've completed my trial. You are free to continue your journey." It unfurled its wings and gave a mighty push off the ground. "You have demonstrated intelligence and bravery through this trial. I wish you the best of luck on your travels."

And the Sphinx took off in the direction the companions had left, quickly disappearing over the horizon. The group breathed a collective sigh of relief. Any day _not_ being devoured by a legendary beast was a good day. They returned to the wagon and settled in, all too glad to be back on the road. As Serenity wrapped a blanket around herself, she wondered if the Sphinx really would have eaten them after all.


	15. Part V. A Mage's Grief: Chapter 1

Yami didn't know when he had dozed off, but all of a sudden, he was being shaken awake by Serenity. "We're here, we're here!" the girl said excitedly. "We're at the City!"

They crowded around Marik at the narrow window to see their destination and caught glimpses of gleaming towers that, unlike the ones in the Aviary, were made almost entirely out of glass. One tower stood out from them all, almost as wide as it was tall, and Yami figured this was the Dragon Tamer's Palace. The rest of the City, though, was blocked from sight by a tall wall encircling the domain.

"Checkpoint ahead," Joey said. "But it's too soon to be the City's security...."

There was a group of men standing shoulder to shoulder across the road. They wore light armor and the one in the center carried a sword. "Sentries," Bakura practically hissed, and Yami could also see the vague shape of the eye-shaped crest of the Sentry, indeed.

"What do they want?" Joey asked apprehensively.

"Loot the wagon, probably."

"I dunno, we might get lucky."

Yami didn't have the heart to tell Joey he doubted that, so he withdrew from the window and prepared to deal with this. The problem was, he didn't know how to. It'd been a long time since he last saw a Sentry, and he had hoped it would be longer still. Nonetheless, he and his new group were on a quest that couldn't be stopped by Shadow monsters, mythical creatures, and certainly not corrupt law enforcers.

The wagon ground to a halt, and Yami crouched at the entrance of the wagon, gesturing for Marik and Serenity to stay behind him. They couldn't hear the full conversation between the Sentries and Joey, only muffled voices and some grumbling that Yami was sure was Bakura. Finally, he heard footsteps nearing the back of the wagon, and the flaps were thrown open.

"All right, out with the rest," said the Sentry. He stepped aside and waved his hand to get them moving.

Yami narrowed his eyes but did as he was told. He kept himself between Serenity and Marik and the Sentry as they walked toward the front of the wagon, where Bakura and Joey stood facing three more Sentries.

"Like I said, we're on our way to see the Dragon Tamer," Joey said, sounding close to exasperation. "We even have questing papers to prove it!"

"I'm sure," one of the Sentries said sarcastically. "Well, since we're providing checkpoint service to His Majesty free of charge, we'll be inspecting your wagon today." He was wearing a cap and his uniform green tunic had silver embroidery, delineating him as the group's leader. But even without that designation, Yami still would have recognized him, having worked under the guy during his last year as a Sentry. And if he was here, then there was no way they were leaving with all their belongings.

He swore under his breath, catching Marik's attention. "You know them?" he asked.

Yami nodded. "The leader, Braun." He wondered if it was possible to protect his comrades while hiding his face from Braun. He was not ready for this confrontation and doubted it would help his friends' chances of getting out of this unscathed. Unfortunately, he didn't have much more time to think.

"As I live and breathe," Braun said, a conniving smile spreading across his face. "Who'd have thought we'd find a colleague already grifting this group? How long's it been, Atem?"

Yami bristled; he could feel the others glancing over to him (the three nameless Sentries openly stared) at the mention of his forsaken name. "Not long enough," he grumbled.

"Ah, is that any way to treat an old friend?" Braun laughed and approached him. "Boys, take a long look. This here is what a washed-up Sentry looks like. He thought he was so much better than the rest of us, and where did that lead him?" Braun stared him down. "Drowning in a bottle.”

The other Sentries snickered, and Yami felt his face heat up with a mix of embarrassment, indignation, and shame. To think he used to work with this brood. "I didn't think I was better – I knew it," he said smugly. "That's why I cut ties with you, Braun." He leaned over to look around his shoulder. "Braun is leading you down a path of destruction," he said to the others. "Leave now or end up hating yourselves."

The three Sentries exchanged a nervous look. Braun merely laughed, tossing his head back and everything. "You're still funny, Atem. Listen, my boys and I are gonna inspect your wagon – and you know how that all goes. Since we go back, we'll leave it at that." Braun turned to his lackeys and jerked his head toward the wagon, and they started walking forward.

"You're not going anywhere near that wagon," Yami seethed.

Braun rolled his eyes. "Eh, what're you gonna do about it?" He half turned, clearly not seeing Yami as a threat, and that was his mistake.

Yami lunged and snatched the sword off of Braun's belt. He tipped it toward the Sentry leader and turned to the three underlings. "Move and your boss gets a new mouth." Braun gulped and nodded frantically to the others. "Good. Now, Bakura, Joey, relieve our friends of their weapons and anything else that might be weighing down their pockets.

"With pleasure," Bakura said, and he and Joey started patting down the Sentries.

"You won't get away with this," Braun said. "We will find you, and you know our vengeance is –" He squeaked when Yami angled the sword closer to his throat.

"That's enough out of you. Now, move to the side of the road so my companions and I can pass. Or don't. I wouldn't mind running you all down."

The others took that as their cue to head back to the wagon, with Yami backing up to it to keep the sword between his friends and the now disarmed Sentries. They silently agreed to let Yami take the passenger seat so he could keep an eye on the Sentries as they passed.

"You'll regret this, Atem, I swear it!" Braun shouted, his face red.

"I already regret knowing you," Yami called behind them. When they were far enough away, he plopped down with a content smirk and tossed down the sword.

"You seem pleased with yourself," Joey said with a smile of his own.

"It just feels so good to cut toxic people out of your life."

* * *

Joey urged the Urodelas on even quicker now, eager to leave the unpleasantness with the Sentries as far behind them as possible. The City was protected by a wall (as all the domains were, Joey supposed), with their current road leading to a single opening. On either side of the arch stood a pair of guards, outfitted in smart and shiny uniforms – blue jackets and white pants with silver buttons all over – and curved swords. For a wild moment, Joey wondered if Yami was going to have to brandish his new weapon once again.

"Halt!" called one of the guards. "State your business."

"We're here to see the Dragon Tamer," Joey said. "We're on official business from the Kingdom of Black."

One of his companions from the back poked the questing scroll through the window, and he unrolled it to show it to the guard. The guard skimmed it and nodded. "All right, then. Park inside so we can inspect the wagon. If you pass, you may continue on to the Palace on foot."

Simple enough, Joey thought. The inspection didn't take long, especially since they didn't have to worry that the City guards would try and appropriate some of their wares. The Palace towered above the City from the very back, and Joey mentally steeled himself to walk all that way.

As they walked down the busy streets, they saw the mechanical wonders that the City and its Sorcerer were known for. Shop windows displayed automatons dancing and miming human activities. People inserted coins into machines to receive newspapers. Children kept fussing about with lampposts to get them to shoot colorful sparks, and when one did, they fell over in laughter before moving on to the next.

"The City...it's so advanced!" Serenity gushed. The others seemed to agree, each of them occasionally stopping to marvel at something before being tugged away by one of the others. Joey was also impressed, but he was unsurprised by all that the Dragon Tamer was able to accomplish. They could have done with some wagons, though. From what Joey could see, everyone toured the city on foot.

They finally came upon a map outlining the area of the city they were in. After tracing it to find where they were, Joey used the legend to determine the quickest route to the Palace.

"It just says to follow the blue paved road," he said.

"Ooh, I see it!" Serenity said. She pointed to the end of their block, where a deep blue road intersected. They marched down the road, following its twists and turns exactly. After a few long minutes it didn't seem like they were getting any closer to the Palace.

"You sure this is the _fastest_ way?" Marik asked incredulously.

"That's what the map said," Joey said, though he was also starting to have his doubts.

"Maybe they meant it was the most direct way," Yami reasoned.

"Maybe the Dragon Tamer _wants _visitors to get lost," Bakura posited.

Joey thought they both could be right, and he and Serenity exchanged a glance before sighing. "No sense stopping now," he said, and they continued on.

No one could explain how they arrived at the doors of the Palace mere moments later. They had just turned a corner and entered the plaza that surrounded the structure. Joey surmised that it was magic and wondered who exactly the Sorcerer commissioned to cast the spell.

The tower's white stone gleamed and its streaks of blue glittered in the late morning sun. Standing at the base of it and looking up, Joey couldn't even see the top of it. The doors were three times as tall, and just as wide, as he was, and their dark wood contrasted aesthetically with the rest of the structure. When they were close enough to ring the large silver bell hanging above, the doors opened slightly and deposited a boy with long black hair dressed in the same neatly pressed uniform the guards had been wearing, though his was more decorated.

"Ah, just in time," the boy said with a self-satisfied smile. "The questers from the Kingdom of Black, I presume? I am Mokuba, Chief Councilor to the Dragon Tamer." He inclined his head slightly.

"Oh, we're –" Serenity began.

"I already know who you are," he interrupted. "News travels faster than wagons. Now, if you'll follow me, I'll take you to the Dragon Tamer. He's been expecting you."

So the group entered the Sapphire Palace with Mokuba.

The group _ooh_ed and _ahh_ed at the beauty of the Palace as Mokuba led them up to the throne room. However, Joey hung back, shuffling forward, almost wishing he were anywhere else. Where the others saw beauty, he saw vapidity. Where they saw aesthetic, he saw conceit. Where they saw warm splendor, he saw cold critique. He didn't know how to describe it, he couldn't even claim his previous relations with the Sorcerer as proof because he hadn't actually known the Dragon Tamer all that well. It was more like he was finally receiving answers to questions so he didn't know he'd asked.

They finally entered the throne room, which was just as grand as the rest of the Palace, of course. There were two thrones, one a step above the other. The Tamer was predictably sitting atop the highest one. Joey avoided looking at him, instead pretending to take in their surroundings like the others were.

"Introducing Serenity and her companions, Marik, Bakura, Yami, and Joey," Mokuba said.

Joey bristled at the sound of his name and slowly turned to face the throne. Mokuba made his way to the lower seat and plopped down, looking expectant. The Dragon Tamer, meanwhile, idly twirled his scepter and watched coldly as the group spread out around the base of his throne. Joey could practically feel when his gaze landed on first his robes then his face.

"The Kingdom of Black," Lord Seto drawled, his glare warming yet intensifying at the same time. "It's been a long time since I've seen one of His Majesty's Acolytes, but I'd have preferred it be longer." He leaned forward a little, awaiting a reply.

"Good to see you again, too, your _Highness_," Joey grumbled sarcastically.

When the others looked over at him at the word "again," Joey realized he said to much. He waved off their questioning glances and rushed on.

"You clearly already know why we're here, let's just get this over with." And he held out his hand expectantly.

Mokuba's eyes widened at Joey's blatant disrespect, he was sure, but Seto only chuckled. "While I would _love_ to help the Black Magician King, there is a process to these things. An order. You'll have to visit the White Mage first and return here to complete the ritual." And he sat back.

Joey's eye twitched. "Then why did you bring us inside? What was the—?!"

Yami cut him off. "I'm sure what Joey means to say is thank you for the direction, and we shall return soon." He gave a meaningful look to Joey, who withdrew with a huff.

"We'd appreciate some assistance, though," Bakura asked. "It'll take us forever to get to the other side of Serendom. Can't you, I don't know, wave your hands and poof us there?"

Joey sniffed a laugh at the idea of Seto using magic, especially openly. "Fine," the Sorcerer said, "I'll lend you one of my carriages. Mokuba?"

"Right away," the boy said. He hopped up from his throne and beckoned the group to follow him out of the throne room.

"Farewell, travelers," the Dragon Tamer called after them. "And good luck, _Joey_."

The blond shuddered and resisted the urge to turn and make an obscene gesture. For the King, he chanted mentally. This was all for the King.


	16. Part V. A Mage's Grief: Chapter 2

The Sorcerer's carriage was a sheen black coach that was self-driving. "It's basically an auto-mobile," Mokuba said to the stunned group.

Well, Serenity wasn't exactly stunned. She had seen cars before and this one seemed like an early prototype of the ones she was used to in our world. No, she was more impressed that this one didn't need a _driver_. She watched amazed as Mokuba twisted and turned the various dials on the dashboard until he was satisfied.

This also meant that for the first time, Joey was a passenger like the rest of them. Serenity giggled at how agitated he looked in the back, partly, she was sure, from a lack of something to occupy him, but mostly from his encounter with the Dragon Tamer.

"So, I take it you two know each other?" Bakura asked when they took off, leaning forward a bit with interest.

"You could say that," Joey mumbled. He looked around and saw the waiting stares and sighed. "He's originally from the Kingdom of Black. He was obviously chosen during the Sorting, and the Skyrider had him and the Magician King compete for the title of, well, Magician King."

"Sorting?" Serenity asked.

"Skyrider?" Marik questioned.

"Compete?" Yami inquired.

"The Sorting was when the items chose their wielders and, thus, the Sorcerers. The Skyrider was the previous ruler of the Kingdom of Black. And yes, he had the two compete for the crown because he couldn't choose who should succeed him and thought it was the most fair way." Joey glanced around, waiting for more questions, then continued. "I hadn't started my Acolyte training yet, but the King and I were friends. I snuck in to see the competition, and it was...brutal. When Seto lost, he exiled himself and founded his own domain, and, well." He waved a hand in the vague direction they had come from.

Bakura whistled. "No love lost between him and the Kingdom, then, eh?"

"Right," Joey said, "which is probably why he's sending us to the White Mage first, just to spite us!"

"But he said there was a proper order to collect the items in," Serenity reasoned.

"I don't buy it." The others fell silent, unable to argue with that kind of logic. Besides, Serenity thought, the Dragon Tamer had seemed almost eager to tease the Acolyte, which would explain why he summoned the travelers up to the throne room only to dismiss them again.

Bakura grumbled something, which caught Serenity's and the others' attention. "What was that?" Yami asked, elbowing him in the side.

Bakura swatted his arm away and said, "There had better _be_ a reason."

"Oh, that's right," Marik said, "you didn't want to go in the first place, right?"

Bakura didn't reply, but the others all remembered. For all the intensity with which he refused to go the Southern Empire first, Serenity had half expected him to stay behind in the Sapphire City. 

"What, are you exiled from there?" Yami asked with a smirk. 

"No." Bakura's eyes slid to Yami's face for a brief, cold glare. "Not officially, anyway. Let's just say no one is missing me there."

* * *

Like the other domains, Serenity knew they had arrived at the Southern Empire when they approached a huge wall. They went through the motions of showing their questing papers to the Archers, who signaled them inside when they were satisfied. Serenity noticed it didn't take long to convince them she and her companions were trustworthy, which she suspected had to do with the Dragon Tamer's auto-mobile.

The villages at the edge of Empire were quaint, reminding Serenity a lot of the Kingdom of Black. One stark difference, which captivated her and the others, was the villagers heavy use of magic. As the travelers passed, they watched the villagers lazily summon items to their sides, or cast charms on wells to draw water, or entertain their families with light tricks.

The heart of the Empire, though, was more sparse. Most of the structures there were large homes that were often surrounded by even larger lawns and gardens, clearly indicating the wealth of their inhabitants. In the center of the settlement was a low mountain that was surrounded by swirling mists. Serenity watched them as they entered the city and caught peeks of the castle through them. It had been built into the mountain, its fragile-looking glass walls at odds with the thick stone of the peak.

The auto-mobile turned into a lot on the edge of the city and parked itself. When it had shut off, the companions tumbled out and stretched their limbs. “Is this what you guys had to put up with the whole trip?” Joey asked, his joints cracking as he stretched them.

“It wasn’t so bad,” Yami said with a shrug.

“Especially when we had fewer companions,” Serenity said jokingly, and she and Marik shared a laugh.

“Well, either way, I wanna stretch my legs a little,” Joey continued. “You guys up to look around the town before we head up to the Castle?”

Serenity nodded, always eager to take in the new sights, and she wasn’t surprised that Marik had agreed, too. Even Yami seemed interested in the domain, saying, “It couldn’t hurt. Besides, I never really got to see the Empire. The Sentry doesn’t really come up here because of the Archers.”

So the group began walking through the city. Bakura was predictably silent, lagging behind the group and not really taking in their surroundings like the others were. Serenity had worried about him at first, but she was eventually distracted by the Empire’s attractions, including the impossibly large plants and flowers lining the sidewalks and glowing orbs that acted as streetlamps. At the end of one block, a street performer was entertaining a small gaggle of teenagers. He beckoned one of the onlookers to hand him her white scarf, and the companions stopped to watch what he’d do with it. The performer crumpled the scarf with both his hands, then passed it to another audience member. When the boy opened his hands, he was holding a blue tie instead of the scarf. Amazed, the crowd began clapping and chatting excitedly about how the magician had done it. The performer for his part just smiled coyly before taking the tie and putting it around the girl’s neck. With a snap of his fingers, the tie transformed back into her white scarf, eliciting surprised gasps and even more cheering. The magician bowed before taking off his hat to collect coins from the more generous onlookers.

As though reading her mind, Joey retrieved a few coins from his pocket and handed them to Serenity so that she could pay the performer, too. “How’d you do it?” she asked as she dropped the coins into his hat.

“A good magician never reveals his secrets,” he said with a wink, and he put his finger to his lips. When he pulled his hand away, he was holding a small flower. He gave it to Serenity, who giggled and immediately put it in her hair.

After more sightseeing and a quick stop at a street café, the group finally meandered toward the base of the mountain. “Malik said we had to take a special vehicle up to the Castle, right?” Yami said. “What kind of craft do you suppose it is?”

“Don’t know, but it can’t be as great as the Kingdom’s tram,” Joey said, folding his arms resolutely.

“What, are you guys competing?”

“Seeing as I’ve never ridden the Kingdom of Black’s tram, the Empire is going to get my vote,” Marik added.

Joey turned a scandalized face to him before shaking his head. “And with that attitude, I’m never gonna invite you to the Kingdom to ride it.”

“I’ve already taken the tram,” Serenity said, “so I’ll have to be the fair judge of which is better.”

Joey grinned. “I like that idea much better. Serenity, old friend, you couldn’t possibly like whatever this thing is more than the tram, right?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t even seen it yet.” She rolled her eyes playfully.

The four of them continued trying to guess what the mysterious transportation was, with occasional scoffs from Bakura, who apparently was convinced he knew the truth. This gave Serenity an idea.

“You haven’t said what you think it is,” she said to him.

“It’d ruin the surprise,” he said, low so that only she could hear him. 

Before she could ask him what that meant, the group finally made it to the ticket booth for entrance to the Castle. Through the entryway, Serenity could see the other visitors boarding and exiting various hot air balloons. A wide smile spread across her face at the prospect of climbing the mountain in one of those, and she wondered distantly how they hadn’t seen the balloons earlier. She supposed the clouds must have hidden them.

“We’re gonna float our way to the top?” Joey asked. “That’s not so special.”

“Are you kidding? That sounds spectacular!” Marik said, also eyeing the balloons in wonder.

“Yeah, we’ll be able to practically touch the clouds. You can’t do that in a tram,” Yami added.

Serenity laughed gently at Joey’s nonplussed expression and patted his arm gently. “It’s just as cool as the Kingdom’s tram,” she said to him, and he gave her a small smile.

And it was just as cool, though very, very different. Just as Marik had said, Serenity and the others were able to touch the mountain’s mists, which were cool and surprisingly dry. The light from the fire that was heating the balloon sparkled off of the mists, making her feel like they were being magicked up to the mountain peak even though she knew it was just clever science. Occasionally, the clouds parted so that she could see the city and even the edge of the Empire.

Finally, the balloon touched down on one of several landing pads, and the travelers were rushed off the carrier so another group of passengers could board. The Castle was large, but its glass walls made it approachable and hardly imposing. The path extending from the landing area led straight to the Castle’s entryway, which was wide open and filled with people passing in and out. Serenity supposed the Emperor had little to fear in the way of intruders with the Castle as out of the way as it was.

“I guess we’ll have to find our own way,” Joey wondered aloud. It was true; for as many visitors as there were, there didn’t seem to be anyone to direct them, much less to show their questing papers to. As the group ventured deeper into the Castle, the crowds thinned, and when they climbed a staircase up from the foyer it was clear that they were no longer in the guest area. Still, no one stopped them, so they continued their journey through the Castle.

The joy Serenity felt riding up into the clouds evaporated when she stepped into the Cloud Castle main hall. The glass walls let in natural light (Serenity was sensing a theme amongst the domains), but it was cold and grey with all the clouds surrounding them. The eerie silence that the castle staff affected didn't help, and even the glass and petrified lightning sculptures sparkling against the strong white pillars did little to warm the space. She shivered when a draft swept by, although she wasn't sure if it was real or imagined.

"Some welcome," Joey muttered, looking around for someone to guide them, or at least give them the time of day.

Serenity had noticed the trepidation that the few workers they did see treated them with, like they were wary of the newcomers but unwilling to do anything to stop them. She wondered briefly if this had something to do with why Bakura didn't want to come to the Empire. She glanced over to him to see if she could discern something in his face.

His face was carefully neutral, although his hands clenching and unclenching as he crossed his arms gave away his underlying frustration or (dare she say) anxiety. "It's over there," he said, nodding down the hall. "I think," he quickly added.

With no other directions to go off of, the group headed down the hall. It opened into a vaulted room with a ceiling opaqued by swirls of whitish grey clouds. The walls were a smooth white instead of the customary glass, and patterns projected onto it from somewhere. In the center of the room, sitting on a tall glass throne was a man in a tan suit and white cloak with long, indigo hair.

He had a faraway look on his face and kept staring at something over the tops of their heads. When they were just under him, he started and finally looked at them, giving each of them a once-over.

"Oh no!" he gasped, a trembling hand covering his mouth. "Another one? Another Vanisher?" He leapt behind the throne, glancing around for an exit, presumably. "Begone, phantom!"

Yami bent toward Serenity and Marik and whispered, "What do you think he's talking about?"

Serenity shrugged, and Marik whispered back, "He's not too lucid, is he? Are we sure he'll give us the last item?"

Joey, meanwhile, was putting on a good show of inspecting the room before walking around the throne to approach the man. "Sir, there's no danger here," he said with a kind smile.

The man barely turned to the Acolyte. "It figures that only I could see him. He's here to drive me _mad_." He shuddered, then ducked down again.

This time, Serenity, Joey, Yami, and Marik looked around the room for signs of a ghost that might as well be invisible. "Is this place haunted or something?" Joey wondered aloud, scanning the clouds above.

"N-no, but I am," the man said. "It's the Vanishers. They blame me for their village disappearing, and they've been tormenting me since."

"You've been seeing ghosts ever since the village disappeared?" Yami asked, his eyes wide with a mix of pity and disbelief.

"Well...just _one_ ghost," he said, standing a little. "It's been following me around all this time, just hovering and staring at me. I never know what it wants, and now there's another!" And he pointed to where the ghost was standing – he pointed to Bakura.

"This is ridiculous," Bakura snapped, "I am _not_ a ghost."

"Yeah, he's our friend," Serenity said, turning back to the cowardly man.

The man, for his part, blinked up at them. "You mean, you _can_ see him?"

"Of course we can, he –" Marik began.

"Oh, Gods, their power grows!" The man released his vice grip on the throne and backed away slowly.

"Wait a second!" Joey called, stepping toward the man as the latter's back hit the wall. He fumbled for the handle of a door before ducking within.

The group let out a collective sigh of disappointment.

"You'll have to excuse him," came a serene voice behind them. "His grief is driving him mad."

Serenity and the others whipped around to see the newcomer. He was a boy around Joey's age with large, ever-watchful brown eyes and long white hair that blended so seamlessly into his snowy robes that it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began. While the others shied away from what Serenity was sure was an _actual_ ghost, Bakura stepped toward him.

"The ghost, I presume?" he asked, crossing his arms.

The boy nodded. "Though I much prefer to go by my title of White Mage. If I like you all enough, I may even let you call me Ryou."

Serenity looked him over again and decided that Ryou the White Mage seemed aloof enough to be a Sorcerer, with the Magician King, Oracle, and Dragon Tamer as her examples.

"If you're the Sorcerer for this domain," Joey asked, "then who was that guy?"

"'That guy' is my father and the Emperor of White," the Mage replied. "While most of the Sorcerers rule over their domains, the Emperor and I decided we liked this arrangement best. He employs my magic, and I advise him when the time calls for it. Although he hasn't done much listening lately." He gave a worried look in the direction the Emperor had escaped in.

"You mentioned he's grieving," Marik said. "Does that have something to do with it?"

The Mage nodded stiffly. "His...his wife, the Empress, passed recently." Serenity gave an odd look, thinking that that was quite a distant way for someone to talk about their own mother. The Mage continued: "Ever since, he's convinced that the Vanishers are back from the dead to torment him."

"But why does he think you're one of them?" Yami asked.

He lifted a lock of his hair. "A gift from her Highness. The color is almost exclusive to those from the lost village and their offspring." Serenity turned an incredulous look to Bakura, joining her other companions in doing so. The Sorcerer picked up on their disbelief and found the situation amusing, apparently. "You mean you've been traveling together all this time – yes, I know you have – and you didn't know where he was from?" He began to laugh. "_I_ could tell from one look."

"No wonder the Emperor was spooked," Joey muttered. "What happened to the village, anyway? And why does your father think its ghosts are after him?"

"The answer to both of those questions involves my artifact. The lost village vanished around the same time that the Alchemist gifted the item to us, and the Emperor believes the villagers would have blamed him for keeping the item." He turned slightly to Bakura. "Well, do you?”

Serenity watched the woodsman, who had been oddly silent throughout this strange conversation. He remained impassive, and she was almost sure he wouldn't respond at all. "If I say yes," he began finally, "will you give us the item as some kind of reparations?"

Ryou smirked. "I'm afraid it's not that simple."

"It never is," Joey murmured to Serenity, who was holding back a frustrated sigh herself.

"The Ring was stolen this morning," Ryou continued. "But you're in luck. I happen to know that the thief is still in the castle. If you recover the artifact, then you may have it."


	17. Part V. A Mage's Grief: Chapter 3

The group broke into two teams, Yami and Joey heading in one direction and Bakura, Marik, and Serenity in the other. Splitting up was really just a precaution – Bakura knew that he had the correct trail, but having another set of eyes on the other possible escape route couldn't hurt, especially if the thief proved to be as clever as he was. Rare as it'd be, he knew better than to assume.

"You know your way around the Castle really well," Serenity observed as they navigated the endless corridors and stairs, a question evident in her tone.

"Of course," he replied absently, "I used to sneak in here all the time when –" he cut himself off as he realized what he was about to admit. He glanced at his curious companions; they had already learned far more about him than he had anticipated when he was just trying to escape the Fang all those days ago. "When I was a kid," he finished slowly.

"So, what was the Empire like back then? What was your _village_ like?" she asked excitedly.

Bakura struggled to remember the village. After years of trying to hide and forget his past life, he could barely recall the name of the settlement, let alone what it looked like. All he was left with were vague impressions. "Warm," was all he said. "When It got too hot, we'd sneak up into the clouds. Into the Castle." He didn't even know who 'we' was, and luckily Serenity didn't ask.

He readjusted his focus and was rewarded with a clue. One of the many pedestals lining the hall was askew, like it had hastily been moved back into place. Bakura ran his hands along the wall behind the pedestal and felt a seam that was almost too narrow to be seen by the naked eye. He pushed the wall in and slid it over, revealing a small hidden room. It was dusty with disuse, a thin film covering anything left on the discolored shelves, but something had disturbed the dust recently. A trail of small footprints led to a grate, whose cover was leaning against the adjacent wall.

Marik and Serenity stood by as Bakura crouched to inspect the grate. "Smaller 'an I expected. Serenity, do you think you could...?"

The girl knelt down, grimacing as her hands touched the grime on the floor, and reached into the grate. She could barely get a shoulder in it when it became apparent that she wouldn't fit. "No use," she concluded as she crawled out of it.

"It must lead somewhere," Marik said. "A little vent like that probably connects to a larger room a level below us."

Bakura stood and smiled. "That's why I keep you around. I'd take you two brains over the brawn any day."

So the trio followed Marik's suggestion and headed down to the basement. Bakura expected it to be damp and cool like most basements, but he supposed the altitude of the castle kept it dry. They walked along the narrow hall until they were approximately below the hidden room. In front of them was a slightly ajar cellar door. He eased it open, figuring that if the thief were still inside, the extra bit of precaution would keep them from lashing out.

There was a small figure huddled in the middle of the cellar, and the light from the single bare bulb above their head glinted off the item in their hands: the Mage's Ring. The figure, a little girl with messy blonde hair, held the Ring up like a weapon, even as she held back a whimper. (The sight was comical, although Bakura admitted the sharp points dangling from the Ring could probably pierce skin if so directed.)

"S-stay back!" the girl squeaked. "I'm not afraid to use this!"

"Do you even know how it works?" Bakura asked, amused. He knelt down. "It's the White Mage's artifact. I've heard it'll eat the soul of anyone who dares steal it."

The little girl's eyes widened in fear, and she dropped the Ring. It clattered to the ground, and she backed up to the far wall. Bakura scooped up the item while Serenity stepped toward the girl.

"P-please, don't hurt me," the girl begged, flinching away from Serenity. "I didn't mean to take the Mage's stuff! I...I just needed the money for food." She sniffled. "M-my grandpa can't work anymore and we're so hungry." Tears began welling up in her eyes, but she continued watching the strangers, keeping them from spilling over.

"It's okay," Serenity said softly, "we're, um, friends with the Sorcerer. Maybe if we explain all this..." She turned to look at Marik, and he looked at Bakura.

The woodsman felt a twinge of something as he sized the girl up. A long time ago, he had been just like her; the difference was he'd had the skill (and fortune) not to get caught. Surely the Emperor of White and the Mage would understand the desperation of a half-starved brat? Or at the very least respect her ingenuity? "Of course," he said, "let's take her with us."

The group, now a member larger, tracked down Yami and Joey so they could all return to the throne room. The girl easily warmed up to the two newcomers, even letting Yami hold her hand on the way back.

When they entered, the White Mage appeared in the center of the room in a shimmer of light. He looked the group over, and his gaze settled on the young girl. "Who is this?"

"The thief," Bakura said, handing over the Ring to the appreciative Mage. The girl, meanwhile, cowered behind Joey's leg, which prompted Bakura to speak up for her. "She was just hungry," he said. "We brought her to you because we thought you would help."

Ryou sighed and shook his head. "If she had come to me sooner, I would have. But a thief is a thief. We have ways of dealing with criminals."

"What do you mean? What will you do to her?" Serenity asked.

"First, we'll remove one of her fingers. Then, she'll be imprisoned." Ryou paused. "I'll make it a light sentence since she is a child, after all."

"No!" Serenity and Joey shouted together.

"You can't!" Marik declared.

"For heaven's sake, she's a kid!" Yami yelled.

Bakura grit his teeth. He stepped in front of the girl and threw his arms out. "No," he ground out, "I won't let you." His friends gathered around, too, forming a wall between the White Mage and the little girl.

Ryou watched Bakura patiently, like he was waiting for a tantrum to pass. After a few tense moments, he smiled and put his hand on his hip. "You're a good group," he said graciously, and with his other hand he snapped his fingers.

Light glared from behind Bakura, and he turned around in time to see the little girl disappear. "What the –?"

"There really was no girl," Ryou said. "A trick of the light, you could say." Then he tapped his chin in thought. "You didn't see through the ruse -- you're a surprisingly compassionate lot – but you _did_ find the Ring, so..."

His voice trailed off as he considered the group's performance, apparently, giving the travelers time to question what had just happened. "So, that was all a sick test?" Yami asked cautiously.

"Oh, yes," Ryou said.

"And to clarify, you don't go around chopping off kids' fingers. Right?" Joey asked optimistically.

"Not for petty theft, no."

The companions exchanged nervous glances, and Bakura decided now was as good a time to leave as any. "We've done what you asked. We're leaving with the item," he said, holding out his hand expectantly.

Ryou smirked and took a half-step toward him. "Take good care of it," he said, and he cupped Bakura's hand so he could place the item in it.

As soon as they touched, Bakura felt like he'd been pushed into a river, for all that he could barely breathe and the wave of cold that pricked at his skin. It wasn't unpleasant, just shocking. Exhilarating, even. It felt like he'd been asleep until just that moment. He looked around at the flecks of light falling from above, though without a source, before meeting Ryou's eyes. Suddenly, a jolt of current rippled through him, starting at the point of contact and spreading outward. A small voice warned him to pull away, but he couldn't for fear that this sensation would end. The moment was over when Ryou gasped for air and looked away, blinking furiously. Bakura dropped his hand and just watched the other, eyes wide.

"Another Quickening?" Joey asked softly.

The White Mage's eyes snapped over to Joey, and the confusion in his face ebbed away, like a long-standing question had finally been answered. Bakura noted that this was the most emotion they had seen the Sorcerer display since arriving in the Castle – or was he just now able to pick up on it? Ryou glanced over to him, and the anxious quivering in his gut that was distinctly not his seemed to answer his previous question.

"You're my Equivalent," Ryou said, more observation than question. "It's...fitting." He smiled and stepped away. "Hurry off to the Sapphire City. I'll be seeing you all soon enough."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why, yes, that was a cameo of Rebecca Hawkins.


	18. Part VI. The Great City: Chapter 1

The ride back to Sapphire City was a silent one. Though Bakura was most likely still musing his chance encounter with Ryou, the rest of the group was contemplating the near completion of their quest. Once they arrived back at the Dragon Tamer's Palace, all the artifacts would be together, and they could conduct the ritual to make the Magician King better. Serenity felt both light with relief and giddy with excitement that after all this, their adventure was racing toward its conclusion.

In almost no time at all (why couldn't they have used the mechanical carriage the whole time?), the group was passing through the City's wall. They rushed back up to Seto's throne room, all of them humming with the same energy Serenity was, and brandished the items they earned. Yami held up the Pendant, Marik the Necklace, and Bakura the Ring, while Serenity and Joey stepped forward to address the Dragon Tamer.

"All right, your Highness," Joey said, somehow making the honorific sound like an insult, "we got the other three. Make good on your promise and deliver the last one."

Seto rolled his eyes but stood up, Mokuba imitating him. "I will _not_ be giving you the Rod," he said, tucking it back into his belt as he walked down the steps. "I'll need it to conduct the ritual to summon the Sorcerers. Or have you learned the Grand Mystic Arts while I've been away?" he added with a smirk.

Joey huffed, and Serenity couldn't help but giggle at how easily the Sorcerer could render him speechless. "Fine, let's go."

Seto walked to the center of the room and waved his hand, and a blue ring of light shot out of the floor, outlining a secret hatch. The bit of floor sunk in in a spiral, creating stairs leading down. Seto hardly paused before walking down, and the torches lining the walls lit up as he descended. The rest of the group followed him. The stairs led to a small round chamber with a shallow pool filled with a liquid that was too blue even for water. Around the pool were four platforms, and the Dragon Tamer stood on one of them. "Place each item on a platform in the order you received them going clockwise," he instructed. Joey and Serenity watched their companions do as told from the base of the stairs. "Now stand back," Seto commanded when the others were done. He held out his artifact and began chanting something under his breath that Serenity could barely hear and definitely couldn't understand. As he spoke, the other platforms lit up with the same blue light from earlier, and the items floated into the air. One by one, the other Sorcerers materialized onto the platforms, looking translucent at first and growing more solid by the second.

When Seto finished his chant, the light faded and the other three Sorcerers caught their artifacts and fastened them on. The Black Magician King looked haggard and was breathing heavily. His legs wobbled, and only Joey rushing over to catch him kept him from falling onto his knees.

"Good to see you all again," Lady Ishizu said. "I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Agreed," Ryou said, giving the travelers a small wave. "Although I don't see why we can't have a little party once all this unpleasantness is dealt with." And he gestured to Yugi.

"Place him in the pool," Seto told Joey, who complied readily. The Magician King sighed as he lay back and closed his eyes. Once Joey was standing with the others again, Seto addressed the other Sorcerers. "I trust you remember how to do this bit, yes?"

Ishizu and Ryou nodded, and they all held out a hand over the pool and began chanting in unison. Once again, the blue light shone, this time out of the pool itself. The liquid began churning, although the Magician King didn't look perturbed. As soon as the Sorcerers stopped their enchantment, the pool calmed and the light faded.

Serenity held her breath, waiting for the Black Magician King to react. Slowly, he stood up and stepped out of the pool, looking much steadier than he had when he first apparated. He looked down at his hands, then up at the other Sorcerers and said, "I'm okay."

Serenity and Joey sighed in relief, then exchanged a smile. Joey walked over and scooped the King up in a tight hug. "You're back to normal!" he exclaimed through a wide grin.

"He won't be for long if you keep squeezing him like that," Bakura said, and Joey dropped him.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"That's okay, I'm glad I'm back to normal, too," the King said as he readjusted his regal purple robes. Then he turned to the rest of the travelers. "And I assume you all are to thank for helping me."

"That's right," Joey said, "Serenity initiated the quest, and the others joined us along the way."

"It was no big deal," Yami said with a beneficent smile.

"It was kind of a big deal," Bakura corrected with a scowl, "especially with this lot." And he nodded to the Sorcerers behind Yugi.

"We had a lot of _fun_ completing their trials," Marik elaborated.

Yugi looked at them over his shoulders. "You guys," he admonished.

"What better way to test their characters?" Ryou replied casually.

"And what fine characters," Ishizu added.

Yugi rolled his eyes and looked back over to Serenity. "Well, I offer you my deepest sympathy...and my sincerest gratitude," and he knelt down before her, prompting the other Sorcerers to incline their heads to her, as well.

"Oh, um," Serenity stammered, "y-you're welcome?"

Joey clapped his hands. "And now for the party!"

* * *

It was a big to-do throwing a last-minute celebration in the Sapphire Palace. Of course, the Dragon Tamer didn't admit to the complexity of it all, instead breaking off now and again to discuss details for the party in private with one staffer or the other. The other Sorcerers had similarly scattered: Lady Ishizu left to meditate, Yugi had gone to Seto's infirmary for a thorough check up at the Tamer's insistence, and Ryou stole Bakura away to explore the Palace.

Meanwhile, the rest of the travelers reclined in a sitting room on the ground floor, whiling away the time until that night's feast. In addition to that, Serenity, like the others, was ecstatic about the prospect of celebrating the quest's completion, of the Black Magician King's health, and of some of their friends being driven out to Sapphire City to partake in the party. The Dragon Tamer had seemed almost too eager to offer two of his coaches up for this simple task in front of the other Sorcerers, Yugi especially. Either way, the group buzzed with excitement at seeing some familiar faces – Joey couldn't wait to recount every harrowing moment and boast his successes to Tristan, Marik was glad he'd soon be reunited with Malik, among all the other advisors and servants coming in from each domain. And while Serenity was looking forward to eventually being sent back home, she was eager to see her friends get their well-deserved happy endings.

Serenity sat up a little straighter when she saw Mokuba pop his head into the room. "His Majesty wished for me to check in on you guys," he said. "I brought snacks to tide you over until the feast." And he fully stepped into the room so that a smartly dressed man could push in a long cart filled with tiny dishes of what had to be sweet treats. There were custards and cakes and candies, and half the dishes were smothered in a thick syrup.

"Thank you, Ro, that'll be all," Mokuba said to the man.

"Yeah, thanks Ro," Joey said, licking his lips. He practically pounced on the cart, loading up his tiny plate with one of everything. Serenity and Yami were a bit more discriminant, while Marik simply bent down to inspect everything. It was the closest, Serenity supposed, the ex-Golem would ever get to appreciating food.

"Slow down or you'll spoil your appetite," Yami said to Joey with a laugh. The two had gone over to a pair of cushioned chairs to share a small coffee table.

Serenity laughed to herself and absently reached for a tiny pie, brushing someone's hand. She looked over, and both she and Mokuba drew their hands back.

"Guests first," the boy said.

"Thank you," she said with a smile and slight bow of her head. "You and your brother are treating us with so much hospitality." She was proud to say that phrase, having heard her mother say it often enough whenever they were guests in someone else's home.

"Of course!" Mokuba replied. "Seto may not want to admit it, but we're glad that all the Sorcerers are here, in one place, for the first time in ages. And we're grateful to you guys."

Serenity thought back to what Marik had said about the Sorcerers being trapped in their domains. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" she asked rhetorically. "But it was just the Dragon Tamer who was cursed, right?"

"Yes, but he forbade me from leaving the City, as well," Mokuba said a bit petulantly. "He didn't want me where he couldn't protect me."

Serenity nodded and thought back to how paranoid each domain was in its own way. Were the Sorcerers so afraid of letting in the unknown? Would they relax some of their rigidity now that they've taken the first step out of their respective domains in years? "The Betwixt isn't so bad," Serenity said. "I'll bet you could handle yourself."

"Thanks," Mokuba said with a grin. "Although the Magician King was cursed near the border of his own Kingdom. I'll be lucky if Seto doesn't confine me to the Palace."

Serenity giggled as Mokuba rolled his eyes, the overprotectiveness of an older sibling resonating with her for some reason. "Who knows," she said, "maybe seeing our ragtag group will change his mind."

“Heh, maybe.”

“So, if your brother is the Dragon Tamer, where are the dragons?” Serenity asked before taking a bite into a pastry.

“In the sanctuary,” Mokuba said around a bite of cupcake. “He’s tamed the three rarest, the legendary white dragons. There’s rumors of a fourth one out there, but I don’t buy it.”

“Wow, _three_ dragons? What does he do with them?”

“Well, they mostly live in peace under the protection of the sanctuary. But when the City needs protecting, Seto and I ride ours into battle.” He grinned. “A dragon has to choose you to let you ride it, and Alabastra chose me. Delwyn is Seto’s.”

The two continued their conversation, detailing the things Mokuba could and would do with his dragon if he left Sapphire City, and it almost made Serenity want to embark on yet another adventure. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, and before she knew it a bell had sounded off in the distance.

"That'd be the feast!" Mokuba said. He leapt up and held out a hand for Serenity. "Shall we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All three of Seto's dragons are named "white." Alabastra is a derivative of "alabaster," "Delwyn" is "white" in Gaelic, and...well, you'll see.


	19. Part VI. The Great City: Chapter 2

"And I said 'That's not a pegasus – it’s a donkey!'" Bakura and his audience laughed, some clutching their sides, others gasping for air. Serenity felt herself grinning until her cheeks hurt, reveling not only in the woodsman's joke, but also in the general joy that settled over the group. Even the solemn Sorcerers seemed at ease.

Serenity sighed with contentment and went back to the platter before her, effectively ignoring the rest of Bakura's jokes. (Meanwhile, Ryou seemed particularly enthralled by his tall tales.) She was in the middle of cutting her poultry (she still hadn't mastered the names of all the birds) when Joey plopped down beside her, setting his plate down unceremoniously.

"Hi, Joey," she said, then noticed his slight frown. "What's wrong?"

"Everyone I wanna talk to is busy with everyone else," he whined. "Bakura and Marik are with their Equivalents, and, sure, that makes sense. But Yugi is over there talking to Ishizu."

He nodded in the direction of the two Sorcerers who were talking softly in a corner of the table.

"Yami is debating the meaning of life with Odion."

Serenity saw the two men exchanging solemn words and occasionally nodding appreciatively at something the other said.

"Tristan is talking up one of the maids."

Serenity shook her head after watching Tristan waggle his eyebrows at his own words.

"And until five seconds ago, you and Mokuba were chatting away." He grumbled something under his breath and stuck a forkful of food in his mouth.

Serenity laughed gently. "Well, it's been a while since I've talked to someone closer to my age," she said, patting his arm consolingly. "You didn't mention everyone, though. What about the Drag–?"

"Don't even think about it," he said, pointing a finger at her. "I'd rather be fed to one of his dragons than talk to _him_."

"That can be arranged," the Sorcerer said from behind them. Serenity and Joey started and turned slowly to face him. "I had planned on giving you all a demonstration later anyway." He smirked and crossed his arms.

Joey waved a hand. "Oh, you know what I meant," he muttered. Then he quirked an eyebrow. "Haven't you challenged his Highness to a rematch yet?" His tone dripped with sarcasm.

Seto glanced toward Yugi, then scowled and walked in the opposite direction. Once he was out of earshot, Joey snickered.

"Feel better now?" Serenity asked, teasing.

"A little," and he started stuffing his face with gusto.

"You'll make yourself sick again," she said as he reached for one of his many sweet-salty rolls.

"You underestimate my pal here," he said gleefully, nodding down to his stomach.

He put the first roll to his lips and was about to take a bite when a loud crash sounded off in the distance. All the amicable chatter ceased. Before anyone could question its origin, they heard a crescendo of shouts and wails, followed by more crashes.

Seto stood up instantly, drawing the eyes of the other Sorcerers to him. Wordlessly, he stalked toward the hall's entrance, followed soon after by Mokuba. The remaining Sorcerers exchanged a glance with one another while Serenity and her companions waited for their advice. However, they never got the chance to give it.

"We have to follow them," Joey said, tossing his roll back onto his plate. He wiped his fingers clean as he rose to leave the table.

"Wait a moment, blondie," Bakura called after him.

"Yeah, Joey, hold on," said his King.

"What? Why?" he said, swiveling around to scan the table.

"We don't even know what's happening," Malik said gently, with Ryou and Yami nodding their agreement.

"All the more reason to go!" Joey threw up his hands. "Where do you suppose the Dragon Tamer has gone off to?" He didn't wait for an answer. He simply turned on his heel and continued out of the hall.

"We may not always get on, he and I," Marik said, "but the boy's got a point."

"Agreed," Bakura said.

"And he'll probably need our help," Yami added, setting down his utensils.

The companions looked over at Serenity, who nodded curtly. With this encouragement alone, the four stood and made their way to the entrance, too.

"Hang on!" Ryou called. "We're coming, too."

Bakura smirked. "No, Dearest, here you stay. The danger ahead is boundless and unknown."

Ryou narrowed his eyes. "And you think me incapable of defending myself." His Ring shone a little brighter, though Serenity wondered if she was just imagining it.

"That's exactly wh–" Bakura started, but Marik cut across him.

"What he means is, you're safer and more useful here." He looked into Malik's eyes briefly. "Besides, we just got the King back." He nodded to Yugi.

"Nonsense," Yugi said with a firm shake of the head. "I will not let you use my former illness as a crutch."

"But –"

"You all are risking your lives for your friend, correct?" Ishizu asked, and Serenity nodded. "Then why should we not do the same for ours?"

Serenity looked to each of her companions, who did the same. Neither could think of a protest.

"Then it's settled," Yugi said smugly.

So, the companions and the Sorcerers rushed out of the dining hall in hopes of catching up with Joey and the Dragon Tamer. (Tristan offered to stay behind to look after the Palace staff.) Serenity was grateful that Ryou's curiosity had gotten the better of him and Bakura both earlier as they led the group through the labyrinthine halls of the Palace. Serenity kept glancing behind her to make sure Yugi and Ishizu were still following; for some reason, she just couldn't imagine the two running full tilt toward danger (or at all, really).

The girl felt immensely guilty when Ishizu did collapse, seemingly tripping over nothing. The group skid to a halt and formed a half-circle around her as Malik bent down to help her up. She shivered and hugged herself as she stared wide-eyed at the ground.

"Sister? What is it?" Malik asked softly. His face pinched (and a second later, Serenity saw Marik's face do the same) when she didn't immediately respond.

"It's...something _terrible_ is coming this way," she finally said, her voice hoarse. "I haven't seen anything like it since..." And she looked up at first Yugi, then Ryou. They both stiffened at the memory of some long-past horror.

"Well?" Bakura asked. "What is it?"

Ryou placed a hand on his forearm. "Just be ready," he said gravely.

Malik helped Ishizu up, and the group continued through the Palace, albeit slower than before. Finally, they made it to an observatory (though Serenity did not know this was the room's name), with one wall made entirely of glass that gave them an excellent view of the south wall that the travelers had come through earlier. And of the behemoth currently trying to tear it down.

Serenity flinched backwards at the sight of the thing, and the others started when it pounded on the wall, producing the ground-shattering sound from earlier. "I guess Lady Ishizu was right," she breathed, unable to tear her gaze away from the monster.

"This wasn't what I saw in my vision," Ishizu said, causing the companions to gape at her. The Sorcerers, meanwhile, looked worried, and that frightened Serenity far more than the monster outside did.

"Look!" Malik said, pointing to a pair of flying creatures circling the monster. On cue, they each shot a bluish-white beam at it, causing the thing to flinch in pain.

"The Dragon Tamer and his Rider are stopping the beast!" Yugi said excitedly.

Serenity's arms prickled with goosebumps at the thought of the fabled creatures taking on that behemoth.

"All right, the Riders are doing their part," Bakura said, "now let's do ours."

They continued down a corridor and began descending the stairs. However, when they reached the first landing, a dark streak burst through the small window, quickly taking humanoid form as it righted itself. The group recoiled from the Shadow Ghoul, all except Ryou, who took a half step forward with raised hand.

"Cover your eyes," he said simply, and a dazzling, blinding white light radiated from his hand, filling the space. Serenity screwed her eyes shut and threw a hand over them for good measure. She heard a screech that was abruptly cut off. When she dared to open her eyes again, the light had faded, and the Ghoul was gone. The only evidence of its existence was a light stain on the wall by the window.

"We should be good now," Ryou said with a sigh.

"I wouldn't be too sure," Yami said slowly. He pointed to the destroyed window, through which Serenity and the others saw more shadows gliding across. "They're running up the walls. They'll cover the Palace in no time at this rate."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Malik said. "Let's keep going!"

"What's the plan, anyway?" Serenity asked as they continued down the stairs. "It seems like the Dragon Tamer has that beast outside under control." And she'd be lying if she said she was disappointed about not having to go out there herself.

"We need to find out where these Ghouls are coming from," Yugi said over his shoulder. "If we do that, we can destroy the source and vanquish them all at once."

The group finally reached the foyer just in time to see the mighty front doors burst open under the weight of the dozen or so Ghouls. They poured inside and quickly surrounded the group. Malik, Marik, Bakura, and Yami circled Serenity and the Sorcerers protectively while they waited for one to pounce.

"How many can you take?" Bakura asked his Equivalent softly.

"Not nearly enough," Ryou replied.

"Are you ready?" Malik asked the former Golem.

Marik nodded. "Whatever it takes."

Serenity admired her companions' courage and steeled herself for an inevitable strike. Nonetheless, she was caught unawares when the first Ghoul attacked, and everything that followed moved almost too fast for her to track. She was able to peek between her protectors once in a while to dodge attacks, but otherwise everything was a blur.

She practically yelped when the Black Magician King shouted "Behind you!" Serenity whipped around and saw the King grab Yami's arm and yank him down just as a Ghoul lunged at the ex-Sentry. A spark ignited at the point of contact, and dots of light fell from the ceiling. Serenity's eyes widened at the sight of yet a third Quickening (she thought these were supposed to be _rare_) while everyone but the newly deemed Equivalents was distracted. The Ghouls closest to them flinched back when one of the specks landed on them, like the light had burned them.

Yugi seemed to notice this, too, and he stood up to watch the phenomenon. As he moved, his Pendant glowed, and he raised his other hand experimentally. The Ghoul in front of him seized up and started to lose its form. After a few seconds, it melted into a puddle, then evaporated, leaving a slight stain on the ground. Serenity and the others were stunned.

The few remaining Ghouls hesitated, as though reappraising the situation. There were still too many for their fighters to take on fairly, so they tightened their ring and waited.

"Ryou, I have an idea," Yugi said, finally letting go of Yami's arm. "Use your light to create a barrier between us and them."

Ryou nodded and did just that. Marik, Bakura, and Malik stepped closer to them so they were in the ring, and they all watched Yugi raise both hands this time to repeat his earlier attack. This time, all the Ghouls froze and melted, letting out awful and pained screams as they faded out of existence.

When the last Ghoul was gone, Ryou let down the barrier and Yugi slumped his shoulders with a sigh. Yami rested a hand on the King's shoulder, and the two exchanged a smile.

"We are out of immediate danger," Ishizu said, "but we must continue toward our goal."

They all nodded resolutely, and Serenity steeled herself. "Let's go.”


	20. Part VI. The Great City: Chapter 3

Joey didn't pause to think about what he could do. He was spurred on only by the thought that he had to do something. Sure, he wasn't the best at magic, much to Solomon's chagrin, but even the little bit he did know had to count for something. Besides, he could hold his own in a fight if it came to it, and judging by the commotion outside, it _would_ come to it.

He dashed out of the first palace exit he found and looked around for someone who needed help. The foot soldiers were marching toward the front, where Joey and his friends had just come in through and presumably where the chaos was happening. He followed, grabbing onto the nearest mounted object whenever the ground shook. When he finally rounded the corner of the palace, he froze in terror.

The crash they heard earlier had come from the gigantic creature currently trying to demolish the wall. It was tall enough to peer over the wall as it was, and the spears and arrows the soldiers were chucking at it merely bounced off the creature's dark, bulbous body. It reached over the wall occasionally to swipe at whoever was brave or stupid enough to climb to the top, and Joey kept expecting its oozing hand to leave a monstrous handprint. It took him a long moment to realize that it was made of the same substance that those Shadow Ghouls were.

It took him much less time to realize that the soldiers needed help. He gulped and ran toward the fray, still trying to come up with a plan. He stopped again when a huge shadow swept over him, and he looked up to see the outline of a winged creature he'd only heard legends of soaring through the sky. When it pivoted, Joey could just make out the Dragon Tamer mounted on its back. An idea struck Joey, and his skin prickled with a chill: didn't the Dragon Tamer own _three_ dragons?

Joey was resolute. He ran away from the giant creature, willing Seto and the soldiers to hold out for a little longer, and toward the egg-shaped glass building behind the palace. He caught Mokuba disappearing inside and knew his hunch was right – this was where they kept the dragons. Just as Joey reached the entrance, another dragon flew out of the top of the building, this time with Mokuba riding.

"Come on," Joey muttered to himself, and he threw himself inside.

The building was spacious, with rocky outcroppings lining the walls and a few busts of dragons scattered on the ground in various stages of disrepair. But drawing Joey's attention was the behemoth circling the top of the dome. Joey watched her, entranced at first, then confused about how to get to her.

"H-hey!" he called as loud as he could. He flapped his arms trying to get the dragon's attention.

Somehow, it worked. The white dragon landed a few feet from him, sending a ripple through the air that almost toppled him. She folded her wings and drew herself up to her full height so she could look down at him and opened her maw slightly, menacingly. Joey gulped and could feel his legs shaking, but he _had_ to do this.

"Hey," he repeated, softer and much more tremulously. "I-I don't know if you can understand me, but I need your help. The palace is in danger and I have to help. Please!"

The dragon just stared at him. He waited for a reply, then sighed deeply when nothing happened.

"Please," he tried again, "if we don't help..." He shook his head, breaking off that line of thought. With or without this dragon, he would win the day. "I know you want to help, too. Your sisters are out there." When the dragon still didn't move, Joey sank to his knees. "Please," he begged to the ground, his fists clutching at the dirt beneath him.

The sound of leathery movement caught his attention, and when he looked up, the dragon was bowing its head to him. Joey was almost too stunned to move. Then, he hopped to his feet and placed a hand to the dragon's head, and he was seized with a cold sensation.

"_Candida_," he said, thus establishing his place as the dragon's Rider. He didn't know how he knew her name, but it came out as naturally as his own. When he said it, she ruffled her wings, expressing her own contentment. "I knew you wanted this," he said with a grin, and Candida snorted in return. "Let's go!"

Joey hopped up on the dragon's back, since he didn't have a mount to ride her head like Seto and Mokuba. Candida seemed to recognize this, too, and flew slower and closer to the ground than her sisters had. That wasn't to say they were slow; Joey grit his teeth as they zoomed toward the shadow creature, naturally joining formation with the other two. The three dragons hovered and circled the shadow creature, awaiting the command to attack.

"Joey!?" Mokuba shouted, and it was a marvel Joey could hear him over the maelstrom below. Whatever magic that bonded him to Candida apparently allowed him to communicate with the other Riders. "What – I mean, how did you...?"

"She chose me!" Joey shouted back, saving the kid some trouble. He beamed over at Seto to gloat, and the Sorcerer rolled his eyes.

"Convenient," Seto called, "but you haven't impressed me yet. Show me what you can do by helping us take out this beast."

"My pleasure," Joey replied. He guided Candida to follow the other two as they swooped in to shoot white beams of pure energy at the monstrosity.

Seto and Mokuba got away clean and arced around to line up another shot, but Joey and Candida weren't so lucky. The creature reached up to swat at the dragon, and the duo barely managed to dodge. Candida tilted just slightly too far, and Joey lost his grip. He slid from the dragon's back and was soon tumbling down to the ground. Out of his periphery he could see Candida rounding to come and catch him, but he could tell she wouldn't get there in time. (He could also see a mesh patch under the giant's arm, what was that?) He closed his eyes to wait for the inevitable impact, then shot them open again when he felt himself being yanked back up by his wrist.

Joey was staring right into the eye of a white dragon, but it wasn't his. She seemed to sense that he was okay and returned her focus to whatever was ahead of them, so Joey instead looked up and saw Seto leaning over the edge of his mount. When they locked eyes, the rest of the battle faded away and time slowed. Joey felt as though a current was running through his entire body, originating at the point of contact with the Sorcerer. Specks of light floated down from some unknown source, enveloping them in their own pillar of white. A wave of some emotion crashed over him and his chest tightened so much he could barely breathe. He didn't realize he was clutching Seto's hand so tightly until he couldn't feel his own anymore.

Joey blinked and the moment ended. Slowly, Seto lifted him enough for him to climb onto the mount. Neither spoke for a long time, and Joey tried to pretend it was so they could get far enough away to regroup with Candida and Mokuba. But there was no way around it: he and the Dragon Tamer were deemed Equivalent. Even if Joey hadn't seen the Quickening twice already, he couldn't deny his heightened awareness of Seto's presence, the warmth emanating from his skin, the weight of his breaths, the angle of his gaze. It was distracting, to say the least. Joey shook his head in an attempt to clear it and focus on the immediate problem.

"Are you okay?" the Sorcerer asked over his shoulder. Joey nodded, so he continued. "The Goliath is almost through the wall, and we are barely slowing it down. We'll need to combine our attacks to create a focused beam. You follow?"

"Yeah," Joey said. Candida sidled up alongside Delwyn, and Joey dismounted so he could hop onto his own. As he maneuvered back in place, he realized something. "Under its arm!" he shouted. "The Goliath has a weak spot under its arm. I'll distract it, get it to lift its arm again, and you and Mokuba fire at it."

Seto thought it was a bad idea, Joey could feel it. But it was as good a plan as any, so the Sorcerer nodded, and Joey took off toward the Goliath. He held onto Candida as tightly as he could, and he could feel her correcting herself so he wouldn't slide off again as they dove down toward the Goliath. When she was close enough, Candida shot out a short burst of white light at the thing's shoulder, just enough to provoke it.

"All right, girl, let's go!" Joey directed, and they angled upward so they could fly just out of arm's length. As predicted, the Goliath paused its destruction of the border wall to swat at Candida, though this time to no avail. Candida swerved and flew toward her sisters, who were perfectly lined up to attack the giant. Joey grinned and urged Candida to duck. Just over their heads, the other two dragons shot their beams directly at the mesh patch he'd spotted earlier. The Goliath bellowed in pain and rage (and it was all Joey could do to remember to hold onto Candida instead of blocking his ears). Seto and Mokuba paused their assault; the energy beams tore through the patch, revealing a hollow space and a single, pulsating organ – the beast's heart.

Joey turned Candida around so he could join the formation, and together the three dragons launched another final attack, destroying the exposed heart. The creature swayed, then stumbled backward, and Joey held his breath. When the Goliath finally fell backwards, he felt his entire body go slack, and only Candida's carefulness kept him from tumbling off of her. The creature made a dull thud and immediately lost its form, dissolving into a gigantic inky puddle and evaporating slowly as it did. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mokuba and Alabastra pull up beside him.

"We did it!" the kid cried, pumping a fist into the air.

Joey grinned and lazily rose a fist, too. Seto and Delwyn joined them, though the Sorcerer looked less pleased about their victory. "We still have to find out where the Goliath came from. Come on."

Joey sighed but got back up. He patted Candida on the back and urged her to follow the Dragon Tamer and the Rider. Joey didn't know if he should count it lucky or troubling that the others had left a trail of Shadow Ghoul stains behind them that led into a forest between the Palace and the Betwixt.

The three Riders swooped down so they were just above the treetops. Joey scanned the brush for any sign of where the others were. Finally, in a clearing in the middle, he saw the glint of something metallic catching the moonlight and a quick motion. Candida slowed down and circled the small break in the trees so he could get a better look at the scene: the White Mage was leading the rest of the Sorcerers and Joey's friends deeper into the forest, and the shining object Joey had seen was his Ring. The Mage was holding it up for some reason.

"There!" he shouted to Mokuba and Seto, pointing at the clearing. "The others are headed that way." And he guided Candida along the trajectory he figured Ryou was taking, peeking now and again at the ground to make sure he hadn't lost the group.

The forest thinned soon after, revealing a clearing surrounded by torches. In the center stood a wide stone table, and there were three huge jars in a triangle around the table. When the companions and Sorcerers entered the clearing, they started to shake. Joey gulped but continued onward, joining Seto's and Mokuba's dragons in formation circling the clearing. Suddenly, the jars popped open, and something like a claw shot out of each of them. They were light made of darkness, and Joey's mind couldn't make sense of it. What he _could_ understand was the terrible, pained moan that Candida was making and the sudden falling sensation in his gut (again). He looked down and was shocked to see one of the claws grasping his dragon, who started to fade as she was being dragged toward one of the jars. Panicked, Joey looked around to the other Riders and saw the same thing happening to them. Thinking quickly, Joey called down to his King, "They're taking our dragons! We're falling!"

The Magician King's head whipped up to meet Joey's gaze with wide eyes. Then he nodded and raised his hands. With a circular motion, he conjured up a thin purple sheet to catch them and float them down to the ground. When the trio landed, the jars closed again. Joey looked up and saw that the dragons were truly gone.

"What the hell was that?" Joey asked with shudder, remembering his mount's cries of pain. "What are those things?" He turned to Seto, but it was someone else who answered.

"They're Dragon Capture Jars," he said, stepping out from the other side of the table. "He" was gratuitous, though, Joey thought. The thing hardly looked human, with its sallow skin stretched too thin over his skeleton. His long grey hair was tangled and matted against his face before falling gracelessly over his shoulders. His voice was hard and cold, like stone, and it made Joey shiver. But most striking of all was the man's eyes. His normal (well, more normal) one was sunken and dull, but the other had been replaced by a shimmering gold prosthetic. It resembled the symbols embellished on the Sorcerers artifacts, and Joey wondered if this, too, was a mage.

A stab of realization pierced his chest, and before he knew what he was doing, he turned to Seto for an explanation. "The Shadow Lich," the Dragon Tamer said, narrowing his eyes.

Joey did a double take just as the man began to cackle. "In the flesh."


	21. Part VI. The Great City, Chapter 4

Yugi heard the Dragon Tamer hiss the name, but it was unnecessary: the maniacal look in the man's eye before them was unmistakable. He'd spent the least time with the alchemist before he'd devolved into a Lich, but that desperate, power-mad expression was seared in his mind. There, at the altar in front of them, stood Aknaden, the fallen fifth Sorcerer now known as the Shadow Lich.

Before Yugi could stop him, Yami stepped forward protectively, joining Marik and Bakura in doing the same. Joey and Seto joined the group, and the Acolyte moved Serenity behind him.

The Lich chuckled darkly and raised a hand straight up in the air. With a flick of his wrist, dark tendrils shot out of the edge of the forest behind him toward the group. Yugi watched in horror as one of the tendrils coiled around Yami's neck and began dragging him away.

"No!" the King cried out, reaching for him. To either side of him, the other travelers, except Serenity, were being dragged away, too, by other tendrils. Out of the line of trees hopped shadowy figures that slightly resembled the Ghouls, but were more slender and hunched over. The tendrils lashed out from where mouths would be, and Yugi shuddered at the idea that these things were using their tongues to hold his new friends captive.

"Let them go!" Seto demanded, holding out his Rod threateningly. He glanced over to the new Shadow creatures, presumably to count them, before returning his attention the Lich.

The Lich chuckled darkly. "Your idle threats mean nothing to me," he said, his voice like stone, "not when my Whisperers can do this." He flexed a hand, and the Shadow creatures holding their friends hostage tightened their coils. Bakura's face began to flush, and the others gasped for air they couldn't grab.

Seto grit his teeth but let his arm down anyway. "What do you want?" he demanded.

"Do not ask such foolish questions, it speaks ill of your intelligence, Tamer." The Lich turned his hand – the same that virtually held their friends' lives – over so his palm was up.

The Sorcerers exchanged looks. "Have we a choice?" Lady Ishizu asked, already unfastening her Necklace. She spared its eye a final look before walking over to the Lich, though Malik's hand shot out to try and stop her. "We have your word?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes, yes, now hand it over." The Lich grabbed the item out of her hands, and his eye gleamed feverishly.

The White Mage was next. "The artifacts aren't as important as the lives of our subjects – our _saviors_." He tossed his Ring over to the Lich, who caught it deftly. "Besides, we still have our magics."

The Lich's chuckle was low and rumbling. "Believe what you like, Mage, but you are _beaten_."

Yugi had to think fast. He was less willing to take the Shadow Lich at his word that their friends would be safe simply – and especially – because they handed over their artifacts. He exchanged a look with Seto, who looked similarly conflicted.

"No," the Dragon Tamer spat, "I refuse to obey you!" And he charged at the Lich full throttle, lifting his Rod as he approached to attack.

The Lich cackled again and held up Ryou's Ring. It glowed ominously, and the Tamer came to a complete halt. He was frozen, mid-step, and glowing the same faint white of the Ring. "It is useless to resist me!" the Lich declared smugly. At the same time, Seto dropped the Rod, blade first so that it pitched itself in the ground.

Yugi swallowed; this was bad. The Lich had been dangerous with his one item way back when he had first gone mad, but now he had the power of three and was soon to claim a fourth. Again, he looked at his friends, wondering what he should do – what he _could_ do. His eyes settled on Yami, whose face was tinted purple with the effort of breathing, and his chest tightened in sympathy (and something else – did that have to do with the Quickening?). And that train of thought inspired an idea: after the Quickening, he'd been able to banish the Shadow Ghouls. Could he do the same again? Could he do it to –?

"Girl!" the Lich commanded. "Bring me the Rod." He set Ishizu's necklace down on the altar and held out his free hand expectantly.

Yugi looked at Serenity with an apologetic smile, but she didn't look scared or even startled. No, she looked determined. Angry, even. Yugi was taken aback and watched her carefully. She slowly walked over to the Rod and yanked it out of the ground. Then, she turned to the Lich, her hands curled into fists, and the one clutching the Rod shook with how tight her grip was.

"You have to promise," she said, her voice low but even, "that my friends will be safe."

The Lich rolled his good eye. "Yes, yes, I've already promised as much." He shook his free hand emphatically. "Now, give me the artifact!"

Serenity nodded and took a half-step toward the Lich. "The thing is, I don't trust you to keep your promise," she said coolly, and before the Lich could process what she had said, she pivoted a little and chucked the Rod at Joey before backing away.

So surprised was the former alchemist that he turned in horror and rage and watched as Joey caught the Rod and sliced at the tongue holding him. The Whisperer holding him shrieked in pain, and Joey fell to his knees with a spluttering cough. He held out the Rod to Bakura next, who also made short work of his restraints.

"No!" the Lich shrieked. He swiveled around and looked ready to charge at Serenity. Yugi stepped in front of her and held up his Pendant.

"You're not going anywhere near her," he said. "In fact, you're not going to hurt anyone ever again, Aknaden." He inhaled deeply and readied his magic for what he was about to do. He raised a hand to seize at what he could of the Lich's darkness. It was slippery and viscous, but once he had it, it pooled in his hand like oil. Slowly, it materialized so that he could see it (though the others only saw Aknaden seize violently). Yugi began to extract if from its host, careful lest he either sever the connection or draw the darkness into himself.

Finally, Yugi had gathered it all, and the Lich crumpled into a pale and shaken heap on the ground. He slowly lifted his head to stare wide-eyed at Yugi. He tried to rasp something, but only air passed through his lips. The King clenched a fist, and the darkness evaporated. When the last of it had gone, the Shadow Lich went stiff and collapsed completely.

The Lich was dead.


	22. Part VII. And You Most of All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful._

The group returned to the Sapphire City to a chorus of cheers. They had walked back (except for the Riders, who shattered the Dragon Capture Jars and rescued their mounts) and were worn out. As soon as they stepped foot within the City's broken wall, a few guardsmen summoned some mechanical carriages to take them back to the palace. Serenity had never been more grateful than in that moment to get into a car.

Though the heroic group was quiet, each pondering what had happened and what it meant for Serendom, Tristan and the others who had stayed behind immediately burst into questions and exclamations when they greeted them in the foyer.

"What happened?" cried one.

"Is it over?" shouted another.

"Does anyone need healing?" asked Tristan.

The travelers talked over each other to answer:

"There was a great beast, and –" Marik began.

"We stopped the mage who –" Bakura started.

"The Lich captured us, but it's just a –" Yami said.

They were cut off by the Dragon Tamer's arrival. He and the other Riders (and Serenity beamed remembering that that now included _Joey_) had returned their dragons to their shelter. "The Shadow Lich is dead," he said to all the folks gathered in the foyer. "Tonight, we celebrate his downfall!"

At that, the crowd cheered and scattered to continue their earlier revelry with new fervor. Mokuba ran off with the palace staff to help with the arrangements, while Seto and Joey joined their friends in the center of the room.

"It really is over," Lady Ishizu said once the group was whole. "With the Shadow Lich died the curse that trapped us in our domains."

Serenity blinked. She had almost forgotten about that. Now that the person who had cast the curse was gone, it must have lifted. "Do you feel any different?"

The Sorcerers all looked down at themselves, inspecting arms or touching chests or examining artifacts. Finally, the Black Magician King declared, "I feel..._lighter_." And the others mumbled their agreement.

"I suppose we won't really know for sure until we travel back," Ryou said. "Speaking of which, where will you all go now that your quest is completed?"

It was the companions' turn to contemplate their fate. For Serenity, the choice was obvious. "I want to go home," she stated.

Her friends' expressions ranged from rueful understanding to disappointment. "But after all we've been through, you don't wanna stay?" Joey pleaded.

Serenity shook her head with a watery smile. "As amazing as this world is, I don't belong here. Besides, there are people who will miss me back home."

Joey sighed and scooped her into a hug. "Well, there are people here who'll miss you, too."

She hugged him back, and when they let each other go, she cleared her throat and looked at the other three. "I'll miss all of you, too. Yami, I'm glad you stood up to the Sentries. I think you were always better than them, and now that you know it, too, what'll you do?"

Yami embraced the girl quickly, then turned to Yugi. "I-if you'll have me," he began, "I would like to pledge my loyalty and service to the Kingdom. I don't have much, but I will stand strong for you."

Yugi beamed. "Then I would be glad to have you." He blushed furiously, seeming to realize what he said and rushed to fix it. "We! I mean _we_ would be glad! The whole Kingdom, royal we."

Yami laughed gently. "Good." And he stood beside his new King.

Serenity nodded to her friend and moved on to Bakura. "And you," she said, "you taught me a lot. Clever things like haggling down prices, but also sweet things like standing up for people who need help." At this, Bakura spluttered for a defense of his reputation while the others just snickered. "What are _you_ going to do?"

The woodsman sighed and glanced over to Ryou. "I suppose I'll go home, now that I have a reason to," he said. The Mage smiled softly and idly traced the pattern of his Ring.

Serenity hugged him, much to his surprise, and then turned to Marik. "And you," she said with a grin. "I was so happy to have you join our journey. I hope you got all of the adventure you were looking for. But what now?"

"I'll keep visiting new places," he said with determination, "this time with a new partner." And to the side, Serenity saw Malik nod his agreement.

"Then good luck," she said, and she hugged the former Golem tightest of all.

Finally, she looked back over at Joey. "Well, now that you're one of the Dragon Tamer's Riders, you can't just go back to the Kingdom of Black, can you?"

Joey shook his head. "No. I'm gonna stay here and train. It'll be weird, but I think I'll manage."

"You'll be just fine. And anyway, I think being a Rider suits a hero like you." She bumped his shoulder playfully before walking over to the Sorcerers.

"Thank you, Serenity, for all that you've done," the Black Magician King said. "When you're ready, we'll be able to send you back to your world."

Serenity took a deep breath and looked around for one last person. "Thanks, Tristan," she called with a wave, "for bringing me to the Kingdom and sticking up for me. I couldn't have done any of this without you." And before the stammering boy could figure out how to respond, Serenity said to the King, "I'm ready."

The Sorcerers surrounded her and held up their artifacts. They began chanting that same mystical language, and Serenity began to glow. The magic tingled, and she felt lighter and lighter until she was sure she was nothing more than a specter. Her vision went hazy, and the last thing she heard before it went completely dark was each of the Sorcerers thanking her:

"Thank you, Serenity," Lady Ishizu said.

"You were very brave," Seto added.

"You're a hero to Serendom," Ryou stated.

And then from Yugi: "_I owe you my life_."


	23. Epilogue

Shizuka awoke with a start. She felt clammy with sweat and her heart was thudding wildly, but otherwise she was fine. She could have cried because of how utterly normal she felt - no fever, no chills, no searing headache. She never felt healthier in her life.

She looked over and saw her mother and Katsuya asleep in their chairs beside her. Shizuka smiled and waited for them to wake so she could tell them about her wild dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all, folks! This idea started with a terrible shower rendition of "If I Only Had" from the Wizard of Oz film and a stray thought about which Yami would be each of Dorothy's companions. I decided I liked the irony of Bakura professing his desire for a heart, and the plot bunny grew from there.
> 
> The flip side of these musings was sorting out which Hikari would be each witch (East, West, and Glinda). That, of course left the position of Wizard of Oz open, so I dug deep for a parallel and thought Kaiba was too perfect. A genius inventor who solves problems with science over magic? Done deal.
> 
> And then came the quest. How and why would the companions meet each other and decide to travel to each realm? The answers to those questions is the fanfic you just read.
> 
> Finally: the Quickening. Of course, I couldn't have this set of characters and not ship them, so I invented a plot macguffin to help the relationships along. (And although I tried my very best to write them equally, you can probably tell which ship is my favorite based on the amount of detail I wrote for its Quickening scene.)
> 
> Thank you for journeying with me through this self-gratifying adventure fantasy. I've come to love this world and hope you did too!
> 
> What did you love? What would you have done differently? What are you still curious about? I'd love to know!
> 
> Cast
> 
> Serenity - Dorothy
> 
> Joey - Toto
> 
> Marik - Scarecrow
> 
> Bakura - Tinman/Woodsman
> 
> Yami - Cowardly Lion
> 
> Yugi - Wicked Witch of the East
> 
> Ishizu - Wicked Witch of the West
> 
> Seto - Wizard of Oz
> 
> Ryou - Glinda the Good Witch


End file.
